Yamunanagar, February 24
INLD candidate Mr Malik Chand Gambhir today won the byelection for the Yamunanagar Assembly constituency by more than 12,000 votes even as the INLD’s political opponents tried to play down the success of the INLD nominee saying that the byelections were more often than not won by the party which was in power in the state.

While Mr Gambhir polled 37,520 votes, his nearest rival from the HVP camp, Mr Sahib Singh, got 24,758 votes. Congress candidate Ms Krishna Pandit, widow of Dr J P Sharma whose death had necessitated the byelection, got 22,290 votes. Mr Ghanshyam Dass, BJP’s representative got 14997 votes and lost his security. Contestants from the BSP, NCP, RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal), RSD (Rashtriya Swaran Dal) as well as nine Independent candidates who were in the fray also lost their deposits.

Mr Abhay Singh Chautala, son of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, attributed the victory of the INLD nominee to “developmental activities undertaken by the state government during the past two and a half years”. Mr Abhay Singh, who was coordinating the INLD’s campaign at Yamunanagar, alleged that the BJP fielded a weak candidate so that Congress could win the byelection. However, the INLD could see through the BJP’s design and it led the INLD to put up its own candidate at Yamunanagar to ensure defeat of the Congress, Mr Abhay Singh said.

Importantly, the Yamunanagar seat had earlier always returned either the BJP or the Congress candidates and this is the first time an INLD member will be representing the constituency in the Assembly. In the Assembly elections in February, 2000, Ms Kamla Verma of the BJP had fought from the seat as a representative from the BJP-INLD alliance. She lost to late Dr J. P. Sharma who was fighting on Congress ticket.

Talking to TNS, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, President of the HPCC, however, claimed that losing the Yamunanagar seat to the INLD would not in any way affect the morale of the party. “We are not surprised by the result because byelections are known for going in favour of the ruling party”, Mr Hooda said. He also accused the INLD of making liberal use of the government machinery to ensure the victory of Mr Gambhir. Mr Hooda also added that though Congress had failed to retain the seat, the number of votes polled by Ms Pandit was more than what her late husband got in February, 2000, when he won the elections.

The General Secretary of Haryana unit of the BJP, Mr Manohar Lal said the party ruling a state always had an advantage if a byelection was in the state for an Assembly constituency. “However, the INLD should also take note of the fact that about 68 per cent of voters in Yamunanagar had cast their franchise against the INLD’s nominee”, he remarked.

Asked about the BJP nominee’s poor performance at Yamunanagar, a BJP leader said that a section of party supporters voted for the HVP nominee due to “internal problems of the BJP”.