Day after results, 3 Independents extend support to saffron party
A day after the BJP secured the majority in the Haryana elections winning 48 seats in the 90-member House, all three Independent MLAs — Savitri Jindal, Devender Kadyan and Rajesh Joon — decided to extend support to the BJP government.
The three MLAs met senior BJP leaders, including Dharmendra Pradhan and Biplab Kumar Deb, in-charge and co-in-charge for the Haryana Assembly poll, respectively, and pledged support to the government after it was sworn in. India’s richest woman Savitri Jindal had contested from the Hisar Assembly segment after being denied ticket by the saffron party. She defeated Congress’ Ram Niwas Rara by 18,941 votes with former minister and BJP candidate Kamal Gupta finishing third.
Two BJP rebels, one Cong dissident
Savitri Jindal
- India’s richest woman; was elected MLA twice — 2005 & 2009
- Entered politics after her husband OP Jindal, founder of the Jindal Group, died in a helicopter crash in 2005\
- Was a minister in Bhupinder Singh Hooda Cabinet in 2013-14.
Devender Kadyan
- Entrepreneur and owner of a chain of highway eateries
- Was appointed chairman of the Haryana Youth Commission by BJP govt
- Socially active, he is currently national vice-president of the Wrestling Federation of India.
Rajesh Joon
- Contested 2014 Assembly elections unsuccessfully
- In 2019, he withdrew his candidature in favour of Congress’ Rajinder Singh Joon
- As Cong rebel won by a margin of 41,999 votes in 2024 Assembly elections
Kadyan, the Independent candidate and BJP rebel from Gannaur, proved a giant-killer by defeating Congress stalwart and former Speaker Kuldeep Sharma by 35,209 votes.
While Jindal and Kadyan were BJP rebels, Congress dissident Rajesh Joon contested as an Independent candidate after the party re-nominated its sitting MLA Rajinder Singh Joon. Rajesh defeated his nearest rival and BJP candidate by Devender Kaushik by 41,999 votes.
“I want development for Hisar and want it to become a beautiful city, for this I extend my support (to the BJP),” Savitri said.
Earlier, Kadyan and Rajesh Joon asserted that they had decided to extend support to the saffron party since poll verdict was in favour of the BJP.
