Constituency profile Sirsa: Only 4 local leaders have won since 1962

Anil Kakkar

Sirsa, March 31

In the electoral landscape of Sirsa Lok Sabha constituency, history narrates a tale of both local pride and external influence. Mostly candidates hailing from distant realms have won in the elections held so far. Of the electoral battles waged thus far, only four have seen candidates from the Sirsa-Fatehabad district emerge victorious, while the mantle of parliamentary representation has been predominantly donned by outsiders on 11 occasions. Compared to 2019, there has been an increase of 1,81,687 voters in the Sirsa Lok Sabha constituency, with 19,21,875 voters expected to cast their votes this time.

BJP candidate Dr Ashok Tanwar has initiated his campaign by contacting party leaders from all constituencies and meeting workers by touring all nine constituencies. This time, the contest in Sirsa is expected to be intense.

After the formation of Haryana, there have been 14 General Elections and one byelection, for the Sirsa seat. Voters here tend to trust candidates brought in from outside. Hence, candidates coming from other areas have become MPs the most number of times. Of the elections held so far, candidates from Sirsa-Fatehabad district have won only four times.

Successful local leaders

Dalbir Singh, who became MP in 1967, 1971, 1980 and 1984, originally hailed from Prabhuvalla village in Hisar, while Chand Ram, who became MP in 1977 from the Janata Party, belonged to Kharhar village in Jhajjar.

Kumari Selja, who hails from Hisar, became MP in 1991 and 1996. Dr Sushil Indora, who became MP in 1998 and 1999, originally hailed from Rajasthan. Ashok Tanwar, who became MP in 2009, belongs to Chimni village in Jhajjar. He currently resides in Sirsa. Sunita Duggal, who became MP in 2019, is from Hisar.

The MPs who originally belong to this Lok Sabha seat are Atma Singh Gill from Baliyala village in Fatehabad district; Het Ram (MP in 1988, 1989), a resident of Sirsa; and Charanjeet Singh Rori (MP in 2014) from Rori village in Sirsa district.

Dr KV Singh, a senior Congress leader, says there is no question of insider or outsider here. The focus should be on competence. This right is provided by the Constitution, and any citizen of the country can contest from any part of the country.

Increase of 1,81,687 voters

In the Lok Sabha elections to be held on May 25, 19,21,875 voters from nine Assembly constituencies will cast their vote. The Sirsa seat includes five Assembly constituencies of Sirsa and three Assembly constituencies of Fatehabad. One seat also comes from the Narwana Jind district in the Lok Sabha. Compared to 2019, there has been an increase of 1,81,687 voters.