Hodal to miss 28-yr-old poll rivalry between Bhan, Nayar

The Hodal Assembly segment is set to see the end of a 28-year-old election rivalry between two stalwart leaders of the region. This comes after the denial of ticket to one of them from this seat in this election.

Congress state president Udai Bhan, who is seeking the election as an MLA from Hodal, will not face opposition from Jagdish Nayar, a veteran leader, who had been challenging him for the past about 28 years. Nayar and Bhan faced each other for a total of six times between 1996 and 2019 in which both of them defeated each other three times in almost direct contests.

Though Bhan is contesting from this reserved constituency as Congress candidate, Nayar has been dropped by the BJP, despite being a sitting MLA from this segment. Nayar has been replaced by one Harinder Ram Rattan, a fresh face and who has been son of a former MLA Ram Rattan.

Bhan got elected as an MLA for the first time from this segment, known as Hassanpur till 2008, in 1987. Having contested as the Lok Dal party candidate, he defeated one Chhotey Lal of the Congress in that election. Having lost in 1991, Bhan faced Nayar for the first time in 1996.

In this Assembly elections, Nayar, who was the Haryana Vikas Party candidate prevailed over Bhan, an Independent candidate in that poll. The second occasion for the clash between the two emerged in 2000, when Bhan took revenge by defeating Nayar. While Bhan who had joined the Congress continued his winning streak in 2005 against Nayar, the situation changed, and Nayar, who had joined Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), was able to trounce Bhan in the 2009 Assembly polls from this seat.

The rivalry continued in the 2014 elections also when Bhan bounced back and defeated Nayar by a margin of over 11,600 votes. Nayar contested as an INLD candidate for the second time from the seat.

However Nayar who had jumped into the BJP bandwagon soon after came out a winner against Bhan in the 2019 Assembly elections by defeating his main rival by a margin of 3,387 votes.

“Supporters of the Congress may be feeling happy as party state chief Bhan, an experienced leader is not likely to face tough opposition in wake of his main opponent being a first timer,” Mohan Singh, a political analyst, said.

Since 1996, duo engaged in 6 direct contests

• BJP veteran Jagdish Nayar and Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan faced each other for a total of six times in the Assembly elections between 1996 and 2019 in which both of them defeated each other three times in direct contests
• Nayar has been dropped by the BJP in this Assembly elections, despite being a sitting MLA from Hodal segment, putting an end to his 28-year-old election rivalry with Bhan