Setback to INDIA bloc, NCP state president to contest from Karnal

Karnal, April 28

The opposition parties alliance INDIA bloc suffered a setback in Karnal in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections as Virender Maratha, the state president of Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar group) announced that he would contest the election on an NCP ticket. Claiming the support of the INLD, he said he would file his nomination papers on April 30. INLD leader Abhay Chautala would be present during the filing of his papers.

The decision was taken at a meeting with his supporters at his residence on Sunday, following which they jointly announced the decision to contest the elections. This will be his seventh election —he has lost all six previous contests, two for the Lok Sabha and four for the Vidhan Sabha.

“I had a meeting with the INLD leader and Kurukshetra candidate Abhay Chautala and he has extended his full support to me. I will file my nomination papers on April 30 and he (Abhay) will come to Karnal for the filing of the papers,” said Maratha.

BJP has fielded former CM Manohar Lal Khattar, while Congress has given a ticket to youth Congress state president Divyanshu Budhiraja from Karnal Lok Sabha seat.

Maratha accused BJP and Congress for fielding outsiders from this seat. “I had called a meeting of my supporters and everyone urged me to contest,” he said. Maratha expressed gratitude to all present at the meeting and said that with their hard work and dedication, he shall win.

He asserted that Karnal’s people would give an appropriate response to outsiders by rejecting them.

Maratha, who comes from the Ror community which has a sizable population in Karnal, clarified that he did not represent any particular community or group but was the representative of all communities in Karnal Lok Sabha constituency. He emphasised that his victory would not belong to any single person but to all. He pledged to work towards uplifting those who had been side-lined by political parties in Karnal.

He urged everyone to start campaigning for him. Maratha had formed Ekta Shakti party in 2003. His electoral journey began from the Nilokheri Assembly seat in 2005, when he contested his first election unsuccessfully, followed by a by-election for the Indri Assembly segment in 2008. Subsequently, he contested his first Lok Sabha elections on a BSP ticket in 2009 and later contested for the Assandh Assembly seat under the Ekta Shakti banner. In 2014, he contested both the Lok Sabha elections from Karnal and the Vidhan Sabha elections from Assandh on a BSP ticket.