BJP drops Ram Bilas Sharma, fields former district chief Kanwar Yadav
In a surprising move, the BJP has dropped veteran leader and two-time party state president Ram Bilas Sharma (74) and named former district president Kanwar Singh Yadav its nominee from the Mahendragarh Assembly constituency, dominated by the Ahir community. In 42 years, it would be the first Assembly poll in Mahendragarh when Sharma would not be in the fray as a BJP candidate.
Sharma, a former minister, began his electoral journey from Mahendragarh during the 1977 Assembly poll as a Janata Party candidate. He lost in a close contest, only to win the next four elections in a row in 1982, 1987, 1991 and 1996 on BJP ticket.
On Wednesday, Sharma had — without waiting for the announcement of the ticket — filed his papers as the BJP candidate.
As per sources, Yadav, considered to be close to former CM and Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar, has been fielded with an intention to prevent the polarisation of Ahir votes in favour of the Congress, which has reposed faith in its senior Ahir leader Rao Dan Singh, a five-time MLA. Rao had unsuccessfully contested the recent Lok Sabha poll from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh as a Congress nominee.
Rao and Sharma have been contesting Assembly elections against each other for the past 28 years. They have tried their political fortune six times until 2019. Rao emerged victorious four times while Sharma managed to win twice.
They first took on each other in the 1996 Assembly poll, when Sharma romped home victorious by defeating Independent candidate Rao by a thin margin of 3,708 votes. It was Sharma’s fourth victory in a row.
But Sharma lost all three subsequent Assembly elections to Rao in 2000, 2005 and 2009. Rao won his first Assembly poll by a lead of 38,850 votes. Then, he defeated Sharma by 20,649 and 5,453 votes in the next two successive elections. Rao faced defeat in 2014, but wrested the seat from Sharma in 2019.
Sharma, a former minister, began his electoral journey from Mahendragarh during the 1977 Assembly poll as a Janata Party candidate. He lost in a close contest, only to win the next four elections in a row in 1982, 1987, 1991 and 1996 on BJP ticket.
