Only three Independents won in these Assembly elections
The recently concluded Haryana Assembly polls saw the lowest-ever number of Independent MLAs making it to the state Assembly in its history since 1968.
Only three Independent candidates have made it to the Assembly by defeating their rivals in this election, indicating a sharp division of voters between the two national parties, the BJP and the Congress. The 2005 Assembly elections saw the highest number of Independents, 11, winning the contests. Interestingly, the Congress had swept the poll in 2005 by winning 67 of the 90 seats.
Among the Independents, Savitri Jindal won from Hisar, defeating her closest rival of the Congress Ram Niwas Rara by 18,941 votes. Jindal had aspired for the BJP ticket, but decided to join the fray after the party opted to field the sitting MLA and minister Kamal Gupta for the third time in a row. Notably, Gupta had defeated Jindal in 2014 when she was a Congress candidate. She, however, joined the BJP just before the Lok Sabha polls, as her son Naveen Jindal was nominated by the BJP for the Lok Sabha from Kurukshetra, which he won for the BJP. The BJP candidate Kamal Gupta drew only 17,385 votes. Jindal is only the fourth woman to win as an Independent candidate in the Assembly polls.
Sharda Rani, Medhavi Kirti and Shakuntala Bhagwadiya had won as Independents in the past.
In the Ganaur Assembly segment in Sonepat district, Devender Kadyan defeated the Congress leader Kuldeep Sharma by 35,209 votes. Kadyan was also a BJP rebel as he decided to contest the poll as an Independent after the party denied him ticket. The BJP candidate Devender Kaushik could draw only 17,605 votes.
Another Independent candidate Rajesh Joon won the Bahadurgarh Assembly segment in Jhajjar district. He was a Congress rebel and defeated the BJP candidate Dinesh Kaushik by 41,999 votes, while the Congress nominee and sitting MLA Rajinder Singh Joon could get only 28,955 votes and was relegated to third spot.
Interestingly, the stronghold of Independents, Pundri Assembly segment in Kaithal district, finally opted for the candidate of a national party in this election, as the BJP’s Satpal Jamba won by a thin margin of 2,197 votes, defeating Satbir Bana, an Independent. The Independents had consecutively won seven times from 1991 to 2019 in this Assembly segment.
Political observers said it was a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress, which not only left very little space for the Independents or other regional players, the INLD and the JJP.
Independents
2024- Three: Savitri Jindal (Hisar), Devender Kadyan (Ganaur), Rajesh Joon (Bahadurgarh)
2019- Seven: Randhir Golan (Pundri), Dharampal Gondar (Nilokheri), Ranjit Singh (Rania), Somvir Sangwan (Dadri), Balraj Kundu (Meham), Rakesh Daultabad (Badshahpur), Nayan Pal Rawat (Prithla).
2014- Five: Jai Prakash (Kalayat), Dinesh Kaushik (Pundri), Ravinder Machhrouli (Samalkha), Jasbir Deswal (Safidon), Rahish Khan (Punhana).
Savitri Jindal
2009 9
2005 11
2000 4
1996 4
Rajesh Joon
1991 6
1987 6
1982 7
1977 4
Devender Kadyan
1972 4
1968 7
1967 4
