Ranjit Singh Chautala, Rao Narbir Singh to fight election ‘with or without BJP’

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 23

The BJP is in the process of finalising its candidates for the forthcoming Assembly elections on October 1 but some senior leaders seem to have adopted a rebellious posture, giving anxious moments to the party.

At least two senior BJP leaders — Energy Minister Ranjit Singh and former minister Rao Narbir Singh — have already made clear their intentions of fighting the Assembly elections “with or without the BJP”.

In fact, Ranjit Singh and Rao Narbir Singh are not alone as some other senior BJP leaders have also threatened that they are “keeping their options open” if they are denied the party ticket.

However, the BJP sources termed these ‘threats’ as pressure tactics by leaders. They said that the party high command was yet to finalise the candidates and winniability would be the sole criteria for the selection.

Ranjit Singh was miffed at Sirsa MLA Gopal Kanda, who heads the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP), for declaring his nephew Dhawal Kanda as the party candidate from the Rania seat. The minister has threatened to quit the BJP if he was not fielded from the seat. The HLP is supporting the BJP government in Haryana since 2019 and is considered to be part of the NDA.

“I will contest the Assembly poll from Rania with or without the BJP. I have a vote bank in all 90 Assembly seats in the state,” claimed Ranjit Singh, son of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal.

In fact, there was speculation that Ranjit Singh could join the Congress after his reported statement that “anything can happen in politics”. He was in the Congress before the 2019 Assembly elections and enjoys a close rapport with former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Ranjit Singh had won the Rania seat in the 2019 Assembly elections as an Independent candidate after the Congress denied him the ticket. He resigned as MLA only after the BJP nominated him as its candidate from the Hisar seat in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, Rao Narbir Singh said that he had decided to fight the Assembly election from the Badshahpur (Gurugram) seat and was hopeful of getting the BJP ticket this time. In 2019, he was denied the party ticket.

Power Minister wants Rania seat

• Power Minister Ranjit Singh is miffed at Sirsa MLA Gopal Kanda, who heads the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP), for declaring his nephew Dhawal Kanda as the party candidate from the Rania seat
• The minister has threatened to quit the BJP if he is not fielded from the Rania seat
• Rao Narbir Singh has said that he will fight the Assembly election from Badshahpur (Gurugram) and is hopeful of getting the BJP ticket this time
• In the 2019 Assembly poll, the BJP had denied him ticket