Hooda secures sixth win in a row, Congress sweeps Rohtak, Jhajjar
Former Chief Minister and Congress stalwart Bhupinder Singh Hooda retained his stronghold in Rohtak and Jhajjar districts, with the Congress clinching seven out of eight Assembly seats. Independent candidate Rajesh Joon, a Congress rebel, secured victory in Bahadurgarh of Jhajjar district.
Hooda registered a resounding win from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, defeating BJP’s Manju Hooda by a margin of 71,465 votes, the largest in both districts. Hooda, securing his sixth consecutive victory, polled 1,08,539 votes, while Manju Hooda, chairperson of Zila Parishad, garnered 37,074 votes.
In the 2019 Assembly elections, the Congress had also won seven out of eight seats in Rohtak and Jhajjar. Independent candidate Balraj Kundu won Meham by defeating Congress’s Anand Singh Dangi. This time, Dangi’s son Balram avenged the defeat, beating Kundu by 18,060 votes in his debut Assembly election. BJP rebel Radha Ahlawat finished third with 29,211 votes, while BJP’s Deepak Hooda, former Indian Kabaddi team captain, secured only 8,929 votes, landing in fourth place.
In Rohtak, Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Batra won a closely contested race, defeating BJP’s Manish Kumar Grover by just 1,341 votes. Batra secured 59,419 votes, while Grover, his rival for the fourth time, polled 58,078 votes.
Shakuntla Khatak claimed victory from the Kalanaur (reserved) constituency for the fourth time, defeating BJP’s Renu Dabla by 12,232 votes. Khatak received 69,348 votes, and Dabla, a former Rohtak Municipal Corporation chairperson, managed 57,116 votes. Independent candidate Prem Pradhan followed with 11,415 votes. The BJP suffered another blow in Jhajjar district, where its national secretary Om Prakash Dhankar lost to Congress’s outgoing MLA Kuldeep Vats in Badli. Vats won by 16,820 votes, polling 68,160 votes versus Dhankar’s 51,340. Independent candidate Ajit Gulia secured 10,820 votes.
In Jhajjar (reserved), former Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal triumphed over BJP’s Kaptan Singh Birdhana. Bhukkal secured her fifth consecutive win by a margin of 12,979 votes, polling 65,325 votes to Birdhana’s 52,346.
Senior Congress leader and former Vidhan Sabha speaker Dr Raghuvir Singh Kadian also claimed victory from Beri, securing his sixth consecutive win. Kadian defeated BJP’s Sanjay Kablana by 35,470 votes, with 60,630 votes compared to Kablana’s 25,160. Independent candidate Amit Dighal garnered 24,626 votes.
The most surprising battle was in Bahadurgarh, where Independent candidate Rajesh Joon decisively defeated BJP’s Dinesh Kaushik by 41,999 votes. Joon polled 73,191 votes, while Kaushik received 31,192. Congress candidate and outgoing MLA Rajendra Joon finished third with 28,955 votes, while INLD’s Sheela Rathi, widow of former state INLD chief Nafe Singh Rathi, garnered 17,511 votes.
