Congress’ old warhorse makes battle interesting in Faridabad

Tribune News Service

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, April 28

Stage is set for an interesting electoral battle for the Faridabad Lok Sabha seat. The election campaign in this segment has got charged up after the Congress announced Mahender Pratap Singh, a veteran leader, as its candidate. Pratap is considered as the main rival of the BJP candidate.

Labelled as an old war horse, 79-year-old Pratap has the credit of defeating the BJP candidate Krishan Pal Gurjar in the 2005 Assembly elections. Having an unbeatable political experience of 57 years, It is claimed that Pratap re-entered politics after a decade of renunciation after the party leadership decided to bank on him to stop the BJP candidate from making a hat-trick.

“Gurjar has emerged as a formidable face of the ruling BJP. It’s perhaps the experience and image of Mahender Pratap that has made his party field him as there is no other candidate who could give a tough fight or challenge at this point of time,” says Devender Singh, a political analyst.

He said, “Pratap’s candidature has surely made the battle very interesting as both aspirants are the old war horses. The Congress and the BJP have depended on experienced politicians.”

While Pratap retired from politics in 2014 and wanted to make way for the political career of his son, the Congress leadership picked the senior one in order to cash on his image and credibility in the region, especially the Gurjar community.

“Fielding a Gurjar leader will certainly make the contest interesting as it will be non Gurjar votes that will decide the fate of the winner,’’ says AK Gaur, a resident. He said the ruling party candidate might have got the caste or community vote bank benefit if his rival was a non-Gurjar.

Elected as sarpanch in 1966 and Block Samiti Chairperson in 1972, Pratap got elected as MLA for the first time in 1982 from Mewla- Maharajpur seat. This streak continued in 1987, 1991, 2005 and 2009. He served as Cabinet Minister in Haryana between 1991 and 1996 and 2009 and 2014. Though Pratap switched over to the BSP in 2000 when he was denied a ticket by the Congress, he returned to its fold soon after.

Krishan Pal Gurjar got elected as MLA in 1996, 2000 and 2009 before he became the Lok Sabha MP with a record margin in 2014. Gurjar came out victorious again in 2019, when he defeated Congress candidate Avatar Singh Bhadana for the second consecutive time and has adorned the position of Minister of State in the Modi Cabinet for the past 10 years.

Though the INLD, the JJP and the BSP have also announced their candidates from Faridabad, a majority of political analysts believe that there would be a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress. While the Congress has won from Faridabad for six times, the BJP has been victorious for the five times since the formation of the constituency.

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