INDIA VOTES 2024: People’s verdict today, all eyes on Karnal

Parveen Arora

Karnal, June 3

With the counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections taking place tomorrow, all eyes are on Karnal where former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is contesting the General Election and Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini is the BJP’s candidate for the byelection.

The elections are seen as a litmus test for the popularity of both leaders in the region. The question on everyone’s mind is whether Khattar and Saini will maintain the BJP’s dominance in Karnal.

State president of the Youth Congress Divyanshu Budhiraja is challenging the former Chief Minister, while INLD-backed NCP candidate Maratha Virender Verma, JJP’s Devender Kadian and BSP’s Inderjeet Singh Jalmana are also in the fray.

Meanwhile, Saini is facing a challenge from Congress’ Trilochan Singh on the Karnal Assembly seat.

Khattar had resigned as Chief Minister on March 12. A day later, he stepped down as MLA from Karnal, clearing the path for Saini to contest the Karnal byelection.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s Sanjay Bhatia was elected to Parliament with the second-highest victory margin in the country. Bhatia, who got 9,11,584 votes, had defeated Congress’ Kuldeep Sharma, who had received 2,55,452 votes, by 6,56,132 votes.

Saini, who was MP from Kurukshetra, was elevated to the position of Chief Minister and he needs to become an MLA in six months after assuming office.

In the 2019 Assembly elections, Khattar won the Karnal seat by 45,188 votes. He had secured 79,906 votes, which was 63.72 per cent of the total votes, and defeated Congress’ Trilochan Singh, who had received 34,718 votes.

As per political experts, the results will tell whether the saffron party can maintain its stronghold amid growing opposition from different sections, including farmers and sarpanches.

“For Khattar, a victory will indicate continuous support despite his resignation, while for Saini, winning the byelection is crucial to remain as Chief Minister,” said Ramji Lal, former principal of Dyal Singh College, Karnal.

He said if both candidates win their elections, it will have a significant impact on the state politics ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

If the Congress manages to win, it will be a major achievement for the party as it fought the elections without any organisational structure and in the absence of some local leaders.