Bhupinder Hooda, Rahul Gandhi, Randeep Surjewal
The Congress has announced the list of 32 candidates for the assembly elections to be held on 90 assembly seats in Haryana. Veteran party leader and former Chief Minister Bhupendra Singh Hooda will contest from Rohtak’s Garhi Sampla Kiloi seat. BJP has fielded Manju Hooda as its candidate. Meanwhile, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who joined the Congress on Friday, has received a ticket from his father-in-law’s house, Julana. The party has given ticket to Mewa Singh against Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini in Ladwa of Kurukshetra.
Four MLAs supporting Sirsa MP Kumari Shailja have been given tickets again. Rao Dan Singh, who lost in the Lok Sabha elections, has been made a candidate from Mahendragarh. Only one leader who lost the 2019 elections and state president Udayabhan has been placed in their confidence. Lalu’s son-in-law and two-time MLA from Rewari Chiranjeev Rao has also been fielded. One thing that is clear from this list of Congress is that it has arranged the political equations so that there is no confusion in the party by taking all the sections together. Five big messages have emerged from this party list.
Congress should not have an atmosphere like BJP.
After the first list of Congress came out, there is no stampede. All 28 MLAs have been given tickets. The party does not want a BJP-like situation by cutting tickets of MLAs. Recently, the BJP announced the first list of 67 candidates, in which candidates were changed on 40 seats. After this change, the bugle of rebellion was sounded in the party. Some BJP leaders left the party and some announced to contest as independent candidates.
Haryana’s electricity minister and Rania MLA Ranjit Chautala resigned as minister after not getting a ticket and made it clear that he would contest the elections. Prominent leaders who rebelled include minister and MLA from Indri Karan Dev Kamboj, minister and MLA from Bawanikheda Bishambhar Valmiki, MLA Laxman Napa from Ratia, former minister Kavita Jain from Sonepat, Shamsher Kharkada from Meham, Sukhwinder Sheoran from Badra and Gautam Sardana from Hisar. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini says it is natural to be upset as only one of the many candidates can be given a ticket.
Free hand to Bhupendra Hooda
Congress has allowed former Chief Minister Bhupendra Hooda to strategize for the Haryana elections so that the equations can be evened out. This time the party has not fielded any MP. Hooda has given tickets to 24 MLAs close to him. Not only this, Vinesh Phogat is also among his close people. The party also gave tickets to 4 supporters of Kumari Shailja camp. At the same time, three MLAs involved in money laundering were fielded again. The Enforcement Directorate is probing the matter. These MLAs include Rao Dan Singh from Mahendragarh, Surendra Panwar from Sonipat and Dharam Singh Chowkar from Samalkha.
Why didn’t the candidate land on Surjewala’s seat?
The Congress has not declared a candidate for the Randeep Singh Surjewala seat in its first list and has not fielded candidates on any seat in the district. There are four seats under Surjewala’s home district, which include Kaithal, Guhla, Kalayat and Pundri. It is being said that the party has taken such a decision so that there is no tension between the top leaders in the state. In a way, the party wants to control Surjewala. He wants to contest the elections and the party has not yet opened its cards regarding him. He seems active in his field.
Surjewala contested from Kaithal in the 2019 assembly elections. He was defeated by BJP’s Leela Ram in a fierce battle. Leela Ram got 72664 votes while Randeep Surjewala got 71418 votes. Surjewal lost by a margin of 1246 votes. This is the reason why he wants to get the ticket again.
Congress simplified the caste equation
Congress has taken full care of caste equations in its list. He has given tickets to Jats, Muslims, OBCs and Punjabis. This core vote bank of the party is also considered. 9 candidates in the list belong to Jat community. 9 candidates from Scheduled Castes and 7 from Backward Classes have been given seats. While 3 Muslims, 2 Brahmins, 1 Sikh and one Punjabi person have been given place in the list. The party has fielded 5 women. These include Renu Bala from Sadhaura, Shaili Chaudhary from Narayangarh, Shakuntala Khatak from Kalanaur, Vinesh Phogat from Julana and Geeta Bhukkal from Jhajjar. While 3 Muslim faces include Maman Khan, Mohammad Ilyas, Aftab Ahmed.
Phogat’s bid to express sympathy
Congress has tried to gain sympathy by giving ticket to wrestler Vinesh Phogat. In fact, women wrestlers had accused former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president BJP leader Brijbhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment. A huge protest was held in the national capital Delhi regarding this. Vinesh Phogat was also involved in this performance. Brijbhushan Sharan Singh has consistently maintained that the allegations are politically motivated. Speculations about Vinesh joining the Congress have been rife ever since he returned from the Paris Olympics, with party leader Dipendra Hooda arriving at the Delhi airport to welcome him.
Former Chief Minister Bhupendra Singh Hooda also met Vinesh Phogat. After the meeting, Hooda said that the Congress welcomes all those who want to join the party. A sportsperson does not belong to a particular party or state. Athletes are from across the country. It is her choice whether she goes to any party or not. After Hooda’s statement, it was almost certain that he would join the Congress. After this his meeting with Rahul Gandhi put an end to all the speculations.
