BJP repeats Mool Chand from Ballabhgarh, Sharda Rathore vying for Congress ticket

Ballabhgarh, one of the oldest Assembly segments, has seen women MLAs five times since it came into existence in 1966-67. This time also, this seat, which is urban in nature and has over 2.72 lakh voters, is poised to witness a keen battle as one of the main political parties is likely to field a woman candidate. The BJP has fielded incumbent MLA Mool Chand Sharma again from the seat.

“Ballabhgarh has emerged as one of the constituencies that has seen the emergence of women in politics. Local residents had preferred to elect women five times to represent them in the state Assembly,” says Rajkumar Gupta, a political analyst.

He says that Sharda Rani was elected MLA from the seat in 1968. Her election was a kind of achievement as participation in politics had never been easy for women. She was again elected in 1972 and 1982, reflecting her influence over the people of the segment, claims Rakesh Kashyap, another analyst.

Kashyap says that young voters support candidates who display traits like being more friendly and approachable and so they tend to support women.

Sharda Rathore is the second MLA from the constituency who was elected twice in the 2005 and 2009 elections. She says that she was popular among women and the youth mainly because she was easily approachable, soft spoken and had been in constant touch with people despite being out of power for the past about 10 years. “My image of being a hardworking and honest person, who does not make false promises, gave me an advantage over other candidates,” she claims.

Sharda Rani had won the Ballabhgarh seat twice on the Congress ticket and once as an Independent candidate in 1982. She, however, lost the elections in 1977, 1987 and 1991 before retiring from politics.

Sharda Rathore, who had started her career in early 2000, won the seat in the 2005 and 2009 elections on the Congress ticket. She, however, did not get the Congress ticket in 2014 and 2019 and BJP’s Mool Chand Sharma emerged victorious in both elections.

As the BJP has repeated Sharma from the seat, Sharda Rathore contesting against him will make the election interesting. Sharda Rathore has a hold over the people of the segment, claim political activists.