New Delhi: Several ticket hopefuls from both the BJP and the Congress have jumped into the electoral fray in Haryana as Independents after being denied a chance by their parties and are running spirited campaigns to emerge independent kingmakers. The two parties managed to convince some of them to withdraw their nominations, but a good number of "rebels" are still in the fight against official candidates.
The most prominent face who has decided to contest the polls as an independent is Asia's richest woman and chairperson of the O P Jindal Group, Savitri Jindal. The 74-year-old has entered the fray against Haryana Minister and sitting MLA from Hisar Kamal Gupta.
"The Jindal family has always served Hisar. I am fully dedicated to living up to the expectations of the people and maintaining their trust. This is my last election and I want a chance to complete the unfinished work of the people of Hisar," she said after filing her nomination papers.
Jindal was elected as an MLA from the Hisar seat twice -- in 2005 and 2009 on a Congress ticket. She was made a minister in the Bhupender Singh Hooda government in 2013. She quit the Congress in March after her son Naveen Jindal left the party for the BJP.
She was hoping for a BJP ticket. Asked about her rebellion while her son continues to be a BJP MP from Kurukshetra, Jindal claimed: "She had not officially joined the BJP and had only campaigned for her son".
Former power minister Ranjit Singh Chautala has thrown his hat in the ring yet again as an Independent from Rania in Sirsa district after the BJP denied him a ticket. Son of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, Ranjit Chautala also resigned as a Cabinet minister after the ticket was denied to him. He had contested the 2019 Assembly election as an Independent candidate from Rania after allegedly being "ignored by the Congress" and had announced support to the BJP when the counting of votes was still on.
He formally joined the BJP in March this year after resigning as MLA and was fielded by the saffron party in the Lok Sabha elections from Hisar but was defeated by Congress' Jai Parkash. The state votes in one phase on October 5.
The results will be declared on October 8. Chitra Sarwara, the daughter of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's confidant Nirmal Singh, has entered the fray as an Independent from Ambala Cantonment after she was denied a ticket by the Congress.
Sarwara is fighting against the BJP's Anil Vij, a six-time MLA and former home minister, and Parvinder Singh Pari of the Congress. Even in the 2019 Assembly elections, after the Congress denied a ticket, Sarwara contested as an Independent and stood runner-up with over 44,400 votes against Vij. Congress candidate Venu Singla secured the third spot.
Sarwara's father is the Congress nominee from the Ambala City constituency. Naveen Goyal, the former BJP State Convenor for the Trade Cell, quit the party after he was denied a ticket and is contesting the polls from Gurgaon as an Independent.
"Several key functionaries at the booth, mandal and district level in Haryana have left the BJP due to poor ticket distribution and it will impact the party's fortunes in the upcoming polls. I have been working for Gurgaon for nearly 15 years and the party choosing an outsider for the constituency has also upset the voters. I am contesting the elections as per the choice of my supporters and they will only decide my electoral future," Goyal told PTI.
He refused to comment on which party he would support in forming the government if he won the elections. Other prominent rebels who could cause trouble for the BJP include Devender Kadian from Ganaur, Zile Ram Sharma from Assandh, Deepak Dagar from Prithla, Kehar Singh Rawat from Hathin, Jasbir Deswal from Safidon, Kehar Singh Rawat from Hathin, Kalyan Chauhan from Sohna, among others.
For the Congress, the challenge is stiffer. It has more rebels contesting as independents: 29 dissidents up against party nominees in 20 constituencies. These include Neetu Maan from Prithla, Sudheer Chaudhari from Pataudi; Manoj from Kosli; Satwinder, Anita Dhul, Deepak, and Sumit from Kalayat; Naresh Dhande and Daluram from Guhala; Harsh Chhikara from Gohana; Sanjeet from Jhajjar; Pradeep Gill from Jind; Lalit Nagar from Tigaon, Sharda Rathore from Ballabhgarh and Randhir Golan, Sajjan Dhul, Satbir, and Sunita Batan from Pundri.
The window for the withdrawal of nominations closed on Monday, but senior party leaders reached out to many of these rebel candidates and persuaded them to back out. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini met BJP leader Rajiv Jain, who had entered the contest against the party nominee in Sonipat. After being persuaded by the CM, Jain, whose wife Kavita is a senior leader and a former minister, withdrew from the contest.
The BJP also managed to persuade senior party leader Ram Bilas Sharma, who had filed nominations from Mahendragarh, against contesting. After meeting the veteran leader, Saini said Sharma is a beacon of light for the Haryana BJP. For the Congress, senior leader and former minister Sampat Singh withdrew his nomination from the Nalwa seat while another leader, Ram Kishen 'Fauji', withdrew from the race from the Bawani Khera segment.
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