Greenhorns versus old-timers likely in Faridabad and Palwal

Tribune News Service

Faridabad/ Palwal, August 30

With the Congress and the BJP in the process of picking candidates, the nine Assembly segments of Faridabad and Palwal are likely to witness a battle between veteran leaders and newcomers.

OP Sharma, a political analyst, said, “Since the ruling BJP suffered a setback in the recently held Lok Sabha elections in the state, it is likely to replace a majority of its candidates. The 10 years of BJP rule has led to a rise in the anti- incumbency.” He said if the BJP replaced its sitting MLAs, it would have a younger team consisting of newcomers or first-timers.

Rajender Bisla, a three-time former MLA from Ballabhgarh, said though both the Congress and the BJP were likely to field strong candidates, the probability of replacing the incumbents could not be ruled out. He said the performance of outgoing MLAs and the level of resentment against them would to be considered to ensure that the party did not pick a wrong candidate.

Sources claimed the segments where the ruling party might go for green horns amid anti-incumbency factor included Faridabad, Badkhal, Palwal, NIT, Hodal and Hathin. Prithla is another segment where the party may field a fresh face as it has not been able to win the seat since 2009. An Independent candidate, Nayan Pal Rawat, had won this seat in 2019. The only seat in Faridabad that went to the Congress was NIT from where Neeraj Sharma had won. While Faridabad, NIT, Badkhal, Tigaon, Ballabhgarh and Prithla fall in Faridabad districts, segments of Palwal, Hodal and Hathin are part of Palwal district.

Political experts also claimed the Congress might not like to experiment with newcomers as a majority of its probable candidates were experienced and owed allegiance to former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a dominant leader of the party. “They are Neeraj Sharma (NIT), Vijay Pratap Singh (Badkhal), Lakhan Singla (Faridabad), Lalit Nagar (Tigaon), Sharda Rathore (Ballabhgarh), Raghubir Singh Tewatia (Prithla), Karan Dalal (Palwal), Udai Bhan (Hodal) and Harsh Kumar or Mohammed Israil (Hathin). This shows all its candidates are likely to be old war horses having an experience of at least two to three elections,” said Gaurav Tewatia, a political analyst.

“This means it will be a likely contest between experienced Congress leaders and BJP green horns in Faridabad and Palwal,” he claimed.