Haryana Diary: Vij, Khattar ‘dosti nahi todenge’

BJP’s two stalwarts — Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Haryana Cabinet Minister Anil Vij — who often made headlines in the past for their “differences”, surprised many during Holi celebrations. Vij acknowledge that they had occasional differences of opinion, and said these were related to issues and not personal, Khattar also downplayed the whole issue and said things happened in a family and ‘apne to apne hote hai’. After the Holi celebrations, Khattar took to his social media account sharing picture with Vij and wrote they will never break this friendship, Vij also replied to the post saying “he is also a loyal friend and maintains” friendship for life.

Gujjar holds sway in Jagadhari

Yamunanagar: Despite the defeat in the 2004 Assembly elections, the popularity of former Haryana Minister Kanwar Pal Gujjar remains impact. His influence was visible in the recently concluded civic bodies elections in which he actively participated and, as a result of which, all BJP candidates registered a win in Jagadhri city. He visited all colonies of the city and campaigned for the candidates fielded by the BJP. A political observer said even though Gujjar lost the Assembly elections in 2024 to the Congress candidate by a narrow margin, his popularity has only increased.

Cong workers upbeat in Karnal

Karnal: Despite facing defeat in the Karnal mayoral election, the Congress can take solace from the fact that its candidate Manoj Wadhwa managed to secure 58,271 votes against BJP’s Renu Bala Gupta (83,630 votes), considering several big leaders left the party in recent times. Though disappointed by the loss, Congress workers see the vote count as a sign of their continued presence in Karnal, where the party fared far better than any other mayoral election across Haryana. In several other cities, Congress candidates struggled significantly. The election result indicates that despite internal setbacks, the party still commands a substantial voter base in Karnal. Party leaders believe this performance could serve as a foundation for future electoral battles in the city.

Congress trolled in Panipat

Panipat: Having lost the Assembly elections in 2024, the Congress yet again failed to turn its fortunes around in the recently concluded civic bodies elections. In Panipat mayoral election, BJP’s Komal Saini gained almost four times the votes polled to Congress’ Savita Garg. Saini got a total of 1.62 lakh votes while Garg only 38,905 votes. After the results were announced, the Congress was badly trolled on the social media groups, with many saying that senior leaders’ self-interest forced the party to surrender in the MC electoral battle field. Now, the Congress needs an overhaul. Only young and dynamic leadership can bring a change in the party, stresses a political analyst.

MP unhappy with Hisar ‘aerodrome’

Hisar: Congress MP from Hisar Jai Prakash took a swipe at the BJP government on the issue of licence for Hisar aerodrome stating that the government had boasted about establishing an ‘international airport’ but it’s meant for domestic flights. He claimed that the domestic flights had even operated from here during the time of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal so there is nothing new in this.