2 months to go, parties in no hurry to announce names for Sonepat seat

Mukesh Tandon

Sonepat, March 17

Even though the stage is set for the General Election after the announcement of the schedule by the Election Commission of India yesterday, suspense is on as no party has announced candidates for the Sonepat Lok Sabha seat so far.

Sonepat seat is important for the ruling BJP as well as the Congress and other parties.

However, the parties are heaving a sigh of relief as elections in Haryana would be held in the sixth round, on May 25, and they will get more time to finalise candidates.

The Sonepat Lok Sabha seat, which is a part of Deswali belt, is considered to be a bastion of Congress stalwart Bhupinder Singh Hooda, but for the last decade, the BJP has registered wins in 2014 and 2019. In 2019, BJP’s Ramesh Chander Kaushik won by 1.55 lakh votes, defeating Hooda.

Meanwhile, the list of aspirants in the Congress is long, as around 79 leaders have applied for ticket. But party sources said only four-five names were in the forefront and the party would finalise the names after 10-15 days.

The sources said senior leaders had prepared a list of potential candidates and the party was trying to field a non-Jat face. It was waiting for the BJP to announce its candidate. Sources said the names of Satpal Brahamchari, former Speaker Kuldeep Sharma, former MLA Padam Singh Dahiya, Surender Dahiya and Sudha Malik, wife of former MP and former state president Dharampal Malik, was doing the rounds.

The names of wrestler-turned-politician Yogeshwar Dutt, MLA Mohan Lal Badoli, Kavita Jain, Rohtak MP Dr Arvind Sharma, were also at the centre of discussion among people as the main contenders for BJP ticket.

Political experts said there were over two months for the elections, and the parties had time to announce their candidates, even as the aspirants had started preparations.

BJP won twice earlier

• The Sonepat Lok Sabha seat, which is a part of Deswali belt, is considered to be a bastion of Congress stalwart Bhupinder Singh Hooda
• But for the last decade, the BJP has registered wins in 2014 and 2019
• In 2019, BJP’s Ramesh Chander Kaushik defeated Hooda by 1.55 lakh votes