Savitri Jindal may pip Kamal Gupta in race for BJP ticket from Hisar
Tribune News Service
Hisar, August 26
India’s richest woman and Jindal Group chairperson Savitri Jindal, 74, is gearing up to join the electoral fray for Hisar Assembly constituency on the BJP ticket. If the party opts for her, it would be a setback for two- time sitting MLA Kamal Gupta, who had defeated Jindal in the 2014 Assembly elections.
Sources close to Jindal family said she has shown her keenness to contest the poll to the party leadership. The two-time Hisar MLA (2005 bypoll and 2009), who also served as a minister in the Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, she had lost the 2014 Assembly election to the BJP’s Dr Kamal Gupta.
However, circumstances took a dramatic turn when she joined the BJP, leaving the Congress in March this year. Her son Naveen Jindal who is also two-time Congress MP from Kurukshetra (2004 and 2009) too later joined the BJP, which also fielded him from Kurukshera in the recent General Election and secured victory by defeating AAP’s Sushil Gupta.
Lalit Sharma, a close aide of the Jindal House, said Savitri ji was all geared up to contest the election if the party opted to field her. She has been staying in Hisar for many days and has been holding meetings with people daily, he said.
Savitri Jindal had joined politics after the demise of her husband Om Prakash Jindal in a helicopter crash in 2005 when he was a minister of the Hooda-led Congress government in the state.
Jindal, who established Jindal Industries, had made debut in politics in 1991 when he contested from Hisar Assembly segment as a candidate of Haryana Vikas Party of Bansi Lal. He also served as an HVP MP from Kurukshetra in 1996 and later joined the Congress.
A source close to the Jindal House told The Tribune that she had expressed her desire to contest to the party high command. “It all depends on the party leadership to take a decision regarding her candidature. But she is prepared for the elections,” he revealed.
However, it will be a rude shock to the sitting MLA Kamal Gupta, 72, who is a two-time MLA and had defeated Savitri Jindal in 2014 when she was Congress candidate. The party sources said he was lobbying for seeking his re-nomination for the third time in a row from Hisar Assembly constituency.
The BJP sources said the party was calculating its equations and the performance of its sitting MLAs and ministers. “The BJP is likely to replace a number of sitting MLAs this time as the vibes are not so favourable for the party in the state. Since the government has been facing the anti-incumbency factor.
There have been a number of issues in Hisar. Local residents saw silent confrontation between Savitri Jindal and minister Kamal Gupta, including shifting of bus stand and some other issues. While Gupta wanted to shift the bus stand, Jindal supported those who opposed this move.
India’s richest woman
- Jindal Group chairperson Savitri Jindal, 74, is India’s richest woman
- If the party fields her, it would be a setback for two-time sitting MLA Kamal Gupta, who had defeated Jindal in the 2014 Assembly
elections
