Congress fields 2 sitting MLAs from Assandh, Nilokheri segments

The Congress party has announced two candidates on two seats out of five in Karnal district for the upcoming state Assembly elections, fielding two sitting MLA — one from the party and another an Independent.

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Gogi opens party office

The Congress candidate from Assandh, Shamsher Singh Gogi, inaugurated his party office after taking blessings at a gurdwara. He then led a roadshow, which saw a large turnout in Assandh. Gogi expressed confidence that he would win the seat by a record margin. Party workers celebrated his candidacy enthusiastically. However, the BJP is yet to declare a candidate from the Assandh seat.

Supporters gather at Gonder’s house

Supporters of Nilokheri MLA Dharampal Gonder gathered at his residence to celebrate his nomination. They pledged that they would work diligently to ensure his victory. He appealed to his supporters towork hard to ensure the victory. The BJP has already fielded former MLA Bhagwan Das Kabirpanthi from Niokheri.

The party has reposed its faith in its sitting MLA from Assandh, Shamsher Singh Gogi, from the same seat, while opting to field Independent MLA Dharampal Gonder from Nilokheri as its candidate. Both MLAs had won in the 2019 elections.

Gogi, a senior Congress leader, first contested for the Assandh seat in 2019 and secured a victory with 32,114 votes. He won by a narrow margin of 1,703 votes, defeating BSP candidate Narender Singh, who got 30,411 votes. During his tenure, Gogi has been an active voice in raising issues related to his constituency in the Haryana Assembly.

It is Gonder’s third election. He was formerly associated with the BJP and had contested his first election on the BJP ticket in 2009. He had quit the party and contested as an Independent candidate in 2019. He won the seat with a margin of 2,222 votes by defeating BJP candidate and former MLA Bhagwandas Kabirpathi. He got 42,979 votes, while Kabirpanthi received 40,757 votes. Though Gonder had extended support to the BJP-JJP government after his victory, and later extended his support to the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Both leaders expressed gratitude to the party leadership for their candidatures.

“I am thankful to the party leadership for my candidature. With the support of the party workers, we will win the Assandh seat,” said Gogi, who is a prominent Jat Sikh face of the region.

Gonder said, “The party has shown faith in me, for which I am thankful to the party leadership.”