Sirsa winner to set up colleges for women

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, May 24

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sunita Duggal decimated the citadel of the INLD and Congress by winning the Sirsa (reserved) parliamentary constituency.

She defeated state Congress president Ashok Tanwar by a margin of 3,09,918 votes. All other 18 candidates in the fray lost their security deposit. This is the biggest victory margin in the Sirsa Lok Sabha seat.

Sunita has become the second woman MP to represent Sirsa in the Lok Sabha. Congress leader Kumari Selja won the seat from here in 1991 and 1996.

Duggal, who was an IRS officer, had resigned from government service in 2014, but was denied ticket at the last moment. She later contested the Assembly poll from Ratia (reserved) in Fatehabad district, but lost to the INLD candidate by a margin of 453 votes. This time, the BJP fielded her from Sirsa.

After the victory, Duggal said she would devote her time for the constituency and bring several projects to the region. “My priority will be to eradicate the problem of drug abuse, set up new colleges for women and strengthen railway connectivity,” said Duggal.

While accepting defeat, Tanwar said the Congress would hold a review meeting with workers and leaders and seek reports from all Assembly segments.