Haryana’s Hot Seats: From Nayab Saini’s Ladwa to Vinesh Phogat’s Julana in Assembly Elections

Former chief minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda is running for election from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi. The entry of a new chief ministerial face, Nayab Singh Saini, who took over from Manohar Lal Khattar in March, has added interest to the contest. Haryana’s 10 Lok Sabha seats were evenly divided between the BJP and the Congress earlier this year, and Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat has entered the state’s political arena, further intensifying the competition. Hooda faces a tough challenge from the Congress’ Mewa Singh, who won the constituency with a margin of over 29,000 votes in 2019.

The seat was created in 2009, and no party has won it twice since then. The Indian National Lok Dal was victorious in 2009, the seat was won by the BJP in 2014, and then by the Congress. The BJP has selected Captain Yogesh Bairagi, a former Army officer and commercial pilot, to contest against Vinesh Phogat. The party’s strategic decision to field a non-Jat candidate from the backward class in the Jat-dominated constituency is noteworthy.

The seat was won by Amarjeet Dhanda of the Jannayak Janata Party in 2019. In Ambala Cantonment, the Congress has not yet named a candidate, while the BJP has fielded Shruti Choudhry, daughter of Rajya Sabha member Kiran Choudhry. Anirudh Chaudhary, Bansi Lal’s grandchild and son of former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Ranbir Mahendra, is the Congress candidate. The odds favor Shruti Choudhry, as the Tosham seat has been won by Kiran Choudhry since 2005.

The BJP has nominated Bhavya Bishnoi, daughter of former MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi and the sitting MLA, for the seat. The Congress has not announced a candidate. The party has nominated Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who won with a margin of over 58,000 votes last time. The BJP has pitted Manju Hooda against him, who is the wife of Rohtak gangster Rajesh alias Sarkari.