Farmers hostility failed to loosen Manohar Lal Khattar’s grip on Karnal Lok Sabha constituency

Parveen Arora

Karnal, June 5

Even after facing farmers’ agitation, opposition by sarpanches, former Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Manohar Lal Khattar emerged victorious in the Karnal Lok Sabha constituency, sweeping all nine assembly segments and managed to secure a commanding victory against Congress candidate Divyanshu Budhiraja by a margin of 2,32,577 votes.

Khattar received a total of 7,39,285 votes, including 2,003 postal votes, while Budhiraja received 506,708 votes, with 2,271 postal votes.

The Karnal Lok Sabha constituency comprises nine assembly segments of two districts – Karnal and Panipat. Khattar achieved his largest margin in the Panipat City assembly segment, which is represented by BJP MLA Parmod Vij, where he secured a lead of 58,632 votes, receiving 96,747 votes compared to Budhiraja’s 37,915. In the Panipat Rural assembly segment, Khattar maintained a significant lead of 47,690 votes, securing 1,08,942 votes to Budhiraja’s 61,252. Panipat Rural is represented by Minister of State Mahipal Dhanda.

In the Karnal assembly segment, which was previously represented by him, Khattar achieved a margin of 34,624 votes, with 90,018 votes compared to Budhiraja’s 55,394. The Gharaunda assembly segment, represented by BJP MLA Harvinder Kalyan, gave Khattar a margin of 32,138 votes, with Khattar receiving 88,953 votes and Budhiraja 56,815.

Continuing his strong performance, Khattar won the Indri assembly segment, which is represents by BJP MLA Ram Kumar Kashyap, with a margin of 21,915 votes, securing 81,061 votes to Budhiraja’s 59,146. In Samalkha, Khattar achieved a margin of 18,337 votes, with 80,634 votes against Budhiraja’s 62,297. The Israna assembly segment, represented by Congress MLA Balbir Singh, saw Khattar winning by 6,770 votes, securing 58,666 votes while Budhiraja got 51,896 votes.

In Nilokheri, the agitation by local sarpanches also impacted Khattar’s lead, reducing his margin to 10,885 votes. Khattar secured 69,317 votes against Budhiraja’s 58,432 in this segment. The Nilokheri assembly segment is represented by Independent MLA Dharampal Gonder, who supported the Congress.

Despite the overall success, Khattar faced a tough battle in the Assandh assembly segment, where Congress MLA Shamsher Singh Gogi and farmer protests narrowed the margin to just 1,654 votes. Khattar received 62,944 votes in Assandh compared to Budhiraja’s 61,290.