No cakewalk for BJP, keen contest on 3 Fatehabad seats

FATEHABAD: Keen contests are being witnessed on the three Assembly seats of Fatehabad district with the JJP giving a tough fight to the BJP in Tohana; the Congress in contest with the ruling party at Ratia; and the BJP, JJP and Congress locked in a triangular contest at Fatehabad Assembly seat.

Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service
Fatehabad, October 19

Keen contests are being witnessed on the three Assembly seats of Fatehabad district with the JJP giving a tough fight to the BJP in Tohana; the Congress in contest with the ruling party at Ratia; and the BJP, JJP and Congress locked in a triangular contest at Fatehabad Assembly seat.

State BJP president Subash Barala is locked in a tough contest with JJP candidate Devender Babli at Tohana Assembly seat of Fatehabad. The Congress candidate, Paramvir Singh, is trying to make the contest triangular, but the main contest is between Barala and Babli.

Babli had contested the last election as an Independent and was defeated by Barala.

This time, after he was denied the Congress ticket, Babli filed nomination as JJP candidate and has emerged as a force to reckon with in the Tohana poll.

Locals, however, believe that the BJP’s voters are silent while the JJP’s supporters are vocal.

“There is a general sentiment that the BJP is coming back to power in Haryana. Being a senior leader, Barala can bring new development projects to the constituency while if the JJP MLA wins, he will be just another Opposition MLA,” says a shopkeeper near the bus stand in Tohana.

In Fatehabad, the main contest is between Dura Ram of the BJP, Prahlad Singh Gillankhera of the Congress and Dr Virender Siwach of the JJP.

A split in Jat votes is expected to help BJP candidate Dura Ram.

Being a Bishnoi, Ram has hold over votes of his community as during his uncle Bhajan Lal’s tenure as CM, he had helped a number of youths of the constituency in matter of jobs and other issues.

In the four Assembly polls that Dura Ram has contested since a bypoll in 2003, he has won once in 2005. But at the same time, he lost narrowly on the three other occasions.

Gillankhera and Siwach, however, are also confident of their victory.

In the Ratia Assembly seat, BJP candidate Laxman Napa seems to have an edge over his Congress rival Jarnail Singh.

The Prime Minister addressed a rally at Mallekan village of Sirsa today where BJP candidates from all the nine Assembly segments coming under the Sirsa Lok Sabha seat were also present.