Elections a litmus test for Congress MLAs in Rohtak

Tribune News Service

Ravinder Saini

Rohtak, April 28

The outcome of Lok Sabha polls in Rohtak will not only decide the direction of state politics but also turn out to be a litmus test for Congress MLAs as the Assembly elections are not far away.

Considered a bastion of the Hooda family, Rohtak parliamentary constituency has nine Assembly segments in three districts — Rohtak, Jhajjar and Rewari. The Congress has its MLAs in seven segments of Rohtak and Jhajjar, while MLA from Kosli (Rewari) belongs to BJP and one is Independent from Meham (Rohtak).

“Both the main parties — Congress and BJP — have roped in their MLAs or prominent leaders to carry out canvassing for the party candidates in their Assembly segments. But the prestige of the Congress MLAs is at stake as Rohtak is believed to be the stronghold of their party,” said a political observer.

Both the parties have also associated their other representatives with each MLA or prominent leader of the Assembly segment concerned as observers, not only to assist them but also to keep a tab on their efforts in reaching out to voters. Keeping them active in the field is also an objective of the move as the laxity in canvassing might adversely affect poll prospects of candidates, he maintained.

As far as Assembly-wise results of 2019 Lok Sabha polls are concerned, Congress candidate Deepender Hooda had taken a lead in five out of nine Assembly segments over the BJP nominee Arvind Sharma.

Deepender took a massive lead of over 45,700 in Garhi Sampla-Kiloi segment being represented by his father and former CM Bhupinder Hooda in the Vidhan Sabha while his victory margin was over 25,900 in Beri, over 14,000 in Meham, over 11,500 in Badli and 4,649 in Jhajjar Assembly segment in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. On the other hand, Sharma polled 74,980 more votes than Deepender in Kosli segment, which is dominated by people of Ahir community. This huge margin proved instrumental in ensuring Sharma’s victory against three-time MP Deepender Hooda. Similarly, the BJP took a lead of over 19,700 in Rohtak, over 5,600 in Bahadurgarh and 4,311 in Kalanaur in 2019 Lok Sabha poll.

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