Bansi Lal’s kin gear up for direct contest

Tribune News Service

Hisar, August 26

The kin of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal held separate public meetings to mark his birth anniversary in his home constituency Tosham and native village Golagarh today.

Kiran Choudhry, daughter-in-law of Bansi Lal, along with her daughter Shruti Choudhry, organised a public meeting in Tosham town, which was attended by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini as chief guest. On the other hand, Lal’s elder son Ranbir Mahendra, former Congress MLA and his son Anirudh Chaudhry held a meeting of their supporters in Golagarh, his native village today.

The public meetings turned out to be a show of strength for the two factions in the family who are expected to slug it out for Bansi Lal’s political legacy in a direct contest in Tosham in the Assembly polls.

While former MP Shruti Choudhry, Bansi Lal’s grand daughter, has been aspiring for the BJP ticket from Tosham, Bansi Lal’s grandson Anirudh Chaudhry has applied for the Congress ticket from the same segment.

Addressing the public meeting, Kiran Choudhry who has been nominated for the Rajya Sabha seat by the BJP recently, said that she suffered a lot of difficulties after the demise of her husband, Surender Singh, in 2005 in the Congress. “Bhiwani region faced discrimination during Hooda’s tenure. I used to make rounds of the CM offcie with slips of recommendations for jobs to the youth of this region,” she alleged.

Appreciating the BJP, she said that she heaved a sigh of relief after joining the BJP because she had been at the receiving end of the conspiracies in the Congress. “Bansi Lal too had to leave the Congress to form his own outfit Haryana Vikas Party after 1991. The BJP has been doing a good job. Now the youth are getting employment on merit,” she said.

She also made a strong pitch for a BJP ticket for her daughter Shruti Choudhry from Tosham, stating that Shruti would carry forward the political legacy of her grandfather Bansi Lal.

On the other hand, Anirudh Chaudhry in Golagarh stated that he had applied for the Congress ticket from the Tosham Assembly constituency. “Tosham is the home constituency of my grandfather Bansi Lal,” he said.

When asked about the contest with his cousin Shruti, he said there would be a contest between the Congress and the BJP. “I urge everyone to honour my sister even if there is a contest between us,” he said. Anirudh said that the workers and followers of his grandfather stood by him.