Hansi set for tough fight between BJP MLA, Congress nominee

The battle for the Hansi Assembly segment is getting intense, with the sitting MLA Vinod Bhayana of the BJP facing a tough challenge from the Congress’ Rahul Makkar.

13 contestants in fray

There are a total of 13 candidates in the fray here. The Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Rajender Singh, while the BSP’s Ravinder Kumar and JJP candidate Shamsher Singh are also fighting it out

The segment has a mix of urban and rural areas, including historical Hansi township and 52 adjoining villages, and has about 2.4 lakh electorate.

Though there are a total of 13 candidates in the fray here, it seems to be a direct contest between the sitting MLA Bhayana and Makkar. Besides, the Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Rajender Singh. BSP’s Ravinder Kumar and JJP candidate Shamsher Singh are also in the fray. Bhayana, who has been also an accused in the change of land use (CLU) scam which occurred during the reign of Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had been renominated by the BJP. He joined the BJP before the 2019 Assembly polls and managed to win the seat for the BJP.

The Congress has opted to field young face Rahul Makkar who is a grandson of the former MLA Amir Chand Makkar who won this seat three times. Makkar had also contested the 2019 Assembly poll on the JJP ticket, but got the second position.

Bhayana, too, had also been a two-time MLA, as he won this seat for the Haryana Janhit Congress in 2009. He had switched sides and backed the Hooda-led Congress government in 2009.

The Hansi Assembly segment has been without a major development project even though the Hansi town is located on the Hisar-Delhi highway. Though the BJP government has made Hansi a police district, people have raised the demand to give full administrative district status to Hansi.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini recently announced that if they returned to power, Hansi would be upgraded to district status with immediate effect after the formation of the government.

The Hansi segment came into limelight when former CM Manohar Lal Khattar had mocked a woman at a janta darbar held in Thurana village of the segment in September last year. As a woman, a resident of Bhatol Jattan raised the demand to set up an industry so that women could get employment. In his reply, Khattar had remarked that she would be sent on next moon mission aboard the Chandrayaan- 4 which kicked up a controversy. Khattar drew flak for his remark as the video went viral on the social media. Vinod Bhayana claimed the BJP government has done record-breaking development works in the constituency. “I have promised the people that the Hansi subdivision will be upgraded to the district level.”

The Congress candidate said the segment had been facing neglect for the past 10 years under the BJP rule and people had made up their mind to change the government as well as the MLA.