ASSEMBLY POLL 2024: Savitri Jindal gets support from Zee owner Subhash Chandra in Hisar

The four-cornered contest in the Hisar Assembly constituency has taken an interesting turn as two of the top business houses of the country have joined hands against the BJP candidate in the Hisar Assembly constituency.

The Zee group owner, Subhash Chandra, has announced that he would extend support to Jindal Group chairperson Savitri Jindal who is in the electoral fray as an Independent candidate in the Hisar segment. Both Jindal and Subhash Chandra belong to Hisar town.

Though I am from a family which has been a supporter of the BJP, I am still making an appeal for the Independent candidate... I also have a dharma towards the people of Hisar.

Subhash Chandra

Chandra’s support to Jindal has come as a shot in the arm for her. Interestingly, Chandra was instrumental in the defeat of Savitri Jindal in 2014 when she was a Congress candidate. With the backing of Subhash Chandra, BJP’s Kamal Gupta registered an upset victory of Savitri Jindal by 13,646 votes in 2014. She later stayed away from electoral politics in 2019 and now is in the contest as an Independent candidate.

In a message on his social media X account today, Subhash Chandra, who had become the Rajya Sabha as an Independent candidate with the support of the BJP in 2016, stated that Savitri Jindal was the appropriate and right candidate from the Hisar Assembly constituency. “Though I am from a family which has been a supporter of the BJP, I am still making an appeal for the Independent candidate. Supporting the BJP is my personal matter. But I also have a dharma towards the people of Hisar which is my hometown,” he stated in message while making an appeal to vote for Jindal.

Notably, both Jindals and Goankas (Subash Chandra Goenka) were also in a legal tussle for nearly seven years and made peace in July, 2018 when Naveen Jindal withdrew the criminal complaints against the Zee group and Zee group also took back all complaints against the Jindal group.

The BJP has fielded Health Minister Kamal Gupta who is a two-time MLA while the Congress has nominated Ram Niwas Rara from this seat. Former Mayor and BJP leader Gautam Sardana is in the fray as an Independent to make it a four-cornered contest.

Another BJP rebel former district vice-president Tarun Jain is contesting as An Independent candidate. Savitri Jindal who had been a minister in the Congress government headed by former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has been using pink colour in her publicity material during the campaigning which has also become a talking point among the electorate. The people are identifying the colour with that of the colour which was being used by the supporters of the former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda during his rallies some time ago. Even her gesture to extend

birthday wishes to the former CM Hooda on his birthday on her social media account is also being taken note of by people in Hisar.

Though Jindal had not given any indication to any faction of the political parties and claimed that she had joined the electoral fray to raise the issues and demands of the people of Hisar in the state Assembly.

However, Kamal Gupta, has been banking on his development works done in the town by the BJP government in the last 10 years. “I am sure of my victory as people will vote for the development of the town,” he said. Congress candidate Ramniwas Rara however alleged that the miserable conditions of the infrastructure in the town was a major issue in the election as the people were pinning hopes on the Congress to get rid poor civic infrastructure.