Fates flip-flopped all day on 3 seats

Geetanjali Gayatri

Chandigarh, June 4

Fluctuating fortunes of candidates through the day proved to be the hallmark of the Lok Sabha elections results which saw a buoyed Congress make significant gains to win five seats while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suffered a setback, climbing down from a clean sweep in 2019 to be restricted to five seats. These elections results were being considered a prelude to the Assembly elections slated in October this year.

While Deepender Hooda (Rohtak) and Kumari Selja (Sirsa) were the big winners, recording victory margins of 3.45 lakh and 2.68 lakh votes from the Congress, former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was the top vote-getter for the saffron party, winning by a margin of 2.33 lakh.

While Rohtak and Sirsa were being seen as “safe” seats for the Congress, Karnal and Gurgaon were considered “safe” for the BJP when campaigning began. A tough contest was expected in Kurukshetra, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh and Hisar.

However, the close contest between Rao Inderjit and actor-turned-politician and Congress candidate Raj Babbar in Gurgaon; industrialist Naveen Jindal (BJP) and Sushil Gupta (AAP) in Kurukshetra; and Mohan Lal Badoli (BJP) and Satpal Brahamchari in Sonepat saw the candidates oscillating between leading and trailing with every round. On the other hand, Rohtak, Sirsa and Faridabad saw clear leads.

While the BJP managed to retain the seats of Kurukshetra, Karnal, Gurgaon, Dharambir Singh of the BJP wrested the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat from Rao Dan Singh of the Congress, and Krishan Pal Gurjar, scored a hat-trick, defeating Mahender Pratap of the Congress to win the Faridabad seat.

The Congress recorded a win from Rohtak, Sirsa, Sonepat, Hisar and Ambala where sitting MLA Varun Chaudhry, son of former state Congress chief Phool Chand Mullana and a first-timer, defeated Banto Kataria of the BJP. The BJP, playing the sympathy card, had fielded Kataria. Her husband and sitting MP Rattan Lal Kataria passed away after which the seat had fallen vacant last year.

Though the regional parties, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and its splinter group, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), had fielded candidates, they failed to make their presence felt in the election, let alone play spoiler for the other candidates.

The results have come as a shot in the arm for former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who was given a free hand to decide the Congress candidates from a majority of the nine seats the party contested in Haryana.

Hooda said that farmers’ plight through the agitation, the Agniveer scheme’s contours, unemployment, deteriorating law and order and inflation were key issues which the ruling BJP failed to address.

Elated with the results, Hooda claimed that the Congress’ performance in the Lok Sabha poll in the state would pave the way for a Congress government in the state. The Assembly elections are due in October which has the BJP worried.