Undeterred by 6 defeats, Fatehabad farmer jumps into poll fray again

Anil Kakkar

Sirsa, May 1

The main contest on the Sirsa seat in the Lok Sabha election is between BJP’s Ashok Tanwar and Congress’ Kumari Selja. Meanwhile, the first candidate to file nomination from the constituency, Independent candidate Surender Kumar, is also making headlines.

Surender Kumar, a farmer of Phoolan village in Fatehabad, has been continuously contesting elections since 2009. He has contested twice for Lok Sabha and four times for the Legislative Assembly, but has faced defeat every time, even facing forfeiture of security deposit. Nevertheless, his determination has not waned. He says that his goal is to serve society. With a lot of factionalism among major parties this time, he says he is hopeful of winning.

Aged 46, Surender Kumar tried his luck for the first time in the Assembly elections from Ratia Legislative constituency in 2009, when he received 1,310 votes. After that, in 2012, he contested in the bypoll held after the demise of former MLA Gyan Chand in Ratia and again faced defeat after getting 1,899 votes. In the 2014 Ratia Assembly elections, he received 1,061 votes and 6,322 votes from the Sirsa Lok Sabha. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, he got 3,332 votes and in the same year, he received 1,301 votes in the Ratia Assembly election. Now, Surender Kumar is trying his luck from the Sirsa Lok Sabha election this year.

As per his nomination papers, he has Rs 25,000 in his possession and Rs 8,500 in his bank account. His wife has Rs 5,000 in cash, Rs 2,000 in her bank account and owns gold jewelry weighing 309 gm — valued Rs 2,10,000. He owns land measuring 2,700 square feet in the village, with a house built on 1,200 square feet.

Surender says that his only goal has always been to serve society and provide better facilities for education, employment, and healthcare to people. He said, “Although I have faced defeat many times, my goal remains the same and I will certainly fulfill it. Major political parties are indulged in infighting and victory will surely be mine.”

Continuously contesting since 2009

• Surender Kumar of Phoolan village in Fatehabad has been continuously contesting elections since 2009. He has contested twice for Lok Sabha and four times for the Legislative Assembly, but has faced defeat every time
• Surender says that his only goal has always been to serve society and provide better facilities for education, employment and healthcare to people

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