Nominations for Baroda byelection from today

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 8

As filing of nominations for the Baroda Assembly bypoll begins on Friday, the ruling BJP-JJP combine as well as the Congress, the main opposition party, have begun the process for finalising the candidate.

The Election Commission will issue the gazette notification for the bypoll on Friday morning, starting the process for filing of nominations.

Nominations can be filed till October 16 and scrutiny of papers will be done on October 17. Withdrawal of papers will be allowed till October 19 and polling will be held on November 3. The counting of votes will be held on November 10. The election has been necessitated due to the death of Congress MLA Sri Krishan Hooda.

State BJP president OP Dhankar has convened a meeting of the state election committee of the party in Rohtak on October 10 to discuss the names of probable candidates.

Though no information has been provided to the media on when and how the BJP and JJP have decided the alliance partner which will field its candidate, it has become clear that the BJP will contest the bypoll.

Dhankar, who heads the state election committee of the BJP, said a panel comprising Agriculture Minister JP Dalal, in charge of the election for the party, district BJP president Dharamveer Nandal, Sonepat MP Ramesh Kaushik and Karnal MP Sanjay Bhatia, in charge of Sonepat district, would submit a list of potential candidates to the committee.

“After considering the names forwarded by them, the state election committee will recommend the names to the central committee, which will take the final call on the candidate,” said Dhankar.

The Congress had invited applications till Thursday for those interested in contesting the bypoll. State Congress president Kumari Selja said the party had received 25 applications so far. Sources said the late MLA’s son Jitender Hooda had also applied for the Congress ticket.

Abhay Chautala of the INLD said the party would announce its candidate on October 15 or 16, adding that at least 12 workers had shown interest in contesting the bypoll.

The Congress had won the seat in 1968, 1972, 2009, 2014 and 2019. The INLD and its previous incarnations had won the seat seven consecutive times between 1977 and 2007. In the last election held in October 2019, Sri Krishan Hooda had defeated BJP candidate Yogeshwar Dutt, an Olympic bronze medallist and Commonwealth gold medallist in wrestling, by nearly 5,000 votes. Bhupinder Singh of the JJP had finished third.

In the Congress, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda wields considerable influence over voters in Baroda and Sri Krishan Hooda owed allegiance to him.

“It is to be seen whether Hooda’s will prevails in the selection of candidate as active campaigning by him will be must if the Congress wants to win this seat,” said a Congress worker.

The BJP is confident that people will vote for the ruling party as there are four years to go for the next Assembly poll and people will like to see development activities in their area in this period.

“This bypoll is a challenge for them (Congress) and an opportunity for us (BJP) since it is being held due to the death of their MLA,” said Dhankar.

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