Haryana Assembly Election 2024
The picture of Haryana assembly elections is now clear. A total of 1031 candidates are trying their luck on 90 assembly seats in the state, out of which 462 independent candidates are in the fray. Although it is considered a direct contest between Congress and BJP, the entry of independents has created an interesting contest in many seats. There are four seats in the state where independents dominate. In such a situation, it remains to be seen that what political success will the independents get in the assembly elections this time?
In the 58 years of political history since Haryana became a separate state from Punjab, independents have played the role of kingmakers many times. A total of 13 assembly elections have been held from 1967 to 2019 and independents have registered their presence each time. 117 independent MLAs have been elected in the elections held so far. It means that independent candidates have entered the assembly in every assembly election. This is the reason why the meetings of several senior leaders have been stalled due to the support of independent candidates this time too.
First woman independent MLA
Haryana has had 13 elections from 1967 to 2019 and independent candidates have performed well in every election. In the 1967 assembly elections, 16 MLAs were elected as independents. After this, 6 MLAs won in 1968, 11 MLAs in 1972 and 7 independent MLAs in 1977. Thus, no woman independent MLA was elected until 1972, but for the first time in 1982, Sharda Rani won as an independent candidate from the Ballabgarh seat. Although she had been an MLA from the Congress three times before, she was elected as an independent candidate in 1982 when the Congress did not give her a ticket.
Also read this
So far many independent MLAs have been elected
16 independent MLAs were elected in the 1982 assembly elections. After this, 7 MLAs won in 1987 and 5 independent MLAs in 1991. In 1996, 10 independent MLAs were elected. In this way, 11 MLAs in 2000, 10 MLAs in 2005, 7 MLAs in 2009, 5 MLAs in 2014 and 7 independent MLAs in 2019 reached the Legislative Assembly. A total of 117 independent MLAs have been elected in Haryana so far, but they have also played important roles on several occasions.
Independent legislator turned kingmaker
In Haryana politics many times government has been formed with the help of independents. In 2009, the Congress government was formed with the help of 7 independent MLAs. Earlier in 1982, Bhajanlal also came to power on the strength of independent MLAs. Out of the 16 MLAs who won as independents in 1982, Bhajanlal made five independents ministers in his cabinet. Similarly, 7 independent MLAs won in the 2019 assembly elections, out of which 6 supported the BJP. Only after this BJP formed its government. In such a situation, BJP made Ranjit Singh, who was elected as an independent MLA from Raniya, as a cabinet minister.
How the rebels spoiled the political game
After the formation of Haryana, 16 independent MLAs each were elected in 1967 and 1987. The fewest independents have gone 5-5 in 2014 and 1991. In such a situation, the special thing is that among those who reached the assembly as independents, only those rebel leaders were included, who contested as independents if they lost their ticket or were not nominated. Talking about the 2019 assembly elections, the rebels spoiled the game of BJP and Congress. The BJP got only 40 seats, so it was forced to include independents in the government.
This time too many independent MLAs are in the fray
Not getting a ticket, Anil Vij contested as an independent twice and defeated the candidates of his own party. Anil Vij won the 1996 and 2000 assembly elections. Similarly, Bhimsen Mehta contested as an independent four times from Indri. He was also a Cabinet Minister in 1996 and 2000. Independents have also forged alliances between parties and in 2009, independents got a ministerial berth in Bhupendra Singh Hooda’s government. Hooda also gave Gopal Kanda the status of Minister of State for Home. Similarly, Omprakash Jain, Sukhbir Kataria and Pandit Shivcharan have also been made ministers. There are many independent candidates from Congress and BJP in the fray in this election, whose entry has made the contest very interesting.
