Two of 3 turncoats fielded by BJP in Haryana bite the dust
Deepender Deswal
Hisar, June 5
The BJP’s ploy to field three turncoats – Independent MLA Ranjit Singh from Hisar and former Congress MP from Sirsa Ashok Tanwar — at the last moment failed to yield results as both candidates lost the elections. According to party sources, the new entrants could not adapt to the BJP’s culture, which resulted in several issues during the electioneering.
The third candidate, former Congress MP Naveen Jindal, won from the Kurukshetra seat for the saffron party.
Singh had won the 2019 Assembly elections as an Independent from the Rania Assembly constituency in Sirsa. Later, he extended support to the saffron party and served as the Energy Minister. Jindal had taken a hiatus from politics after he lost the 2014 Lok Sabha poll as a Congress candidate. Both Singh and Jindal had simultaneously joined the BJP in Sirsa and Delhi, respectively on March 24 and were instantly declared the party candidates.
Singh, who is the son of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, lost the poll by 63,381 votes to the Congress’ Jai Prakash. In a press conference, Singh said he would write a letter to the party leadership about the “role” of some party leaders in Hisar during the campaign.
Meanwhile, in Sirsa, Ashok Tanwar even proved worse for the party as he lost by the second highest margin (after Rohtak) to the Congress candidate and former Union Minister, Kumari Selja. Selja defeated Tanwar by a margin of 2,68,497 votes.
Tanwar, too, has pointed fingers at government employees and some party leaders in Sirsa. However, he later retracted from his statements regarding the party workers. However, it was evident from the campaign that he was unable to gel with the party workers. Tanwar’s old rivalry with Sirsa MLA Gopal Kanda, too, came as a handicap in the smooth campaigning process even though both leaders tried to show off their new-found friendship among people.
According to political experts, Jindal, the third of the turncoat, however, managed to scrape through by a thin margin of 22,021 votes over his nearest rival AAP candidate Sushil Gupta. “Jindal got a blessing in disguise in INLD candidate Abhay Singh Chautala, who secured about 78,000 votes, which is stated to be a loss for the AAP leader, who was a joint candidate of the INDIA bloc,” an expert said.
Bahus’ blow to Ranjit Singh?
Was it the performance of Chautala “bahus” that spoiled the chances of their father-in-law Ranjit Singh (Devi Lal’s son) of BJP of winning the elections in the Hisar Lok Sabha constituency. He lost to Congress’ Jai Prakash by 63,381 votes. Both Chautala “bahus” — JJP candidate Naina Chautala (wife of Ajay Chautala) and INLD nominee Sunaina Chautala (wife of Ravi Chautala) secured a total of 44,335 votes. Sunaina polled 22,303 votes while Naina got 22,032 votes. Thus, people calculated that their collective votes could have inflicted a body blow to Singh’s prospects in the elections. Ranjit and his two “bahus” had reached out to the voters by staking the claim for the legacy of Devi Lal. Interestingly, Sunaina edged past Naina in the number game as the former got 271 more votes than the latter, who is the mother of former Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala.
Scheduled to start at Dec 21, 3:30 am IST
Basin Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand
Scheduled to start at Dec 20, 13:45 pm IST
Adelaide Oval, North Adelaide, Australia
Scheduled to start at Dec 20, 5:30 am IST
Arnos Vale Stadium, Arnos Vale, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Scheduled to start at Dec 21, 19:30 pm IST
Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, Surat, India
Scheduled to start at Dec 21, 15:00 pm IST
Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, Surat, India
Scheduled to start at Dec 21, 10:30 am IST
Blundstone Arena, Bellerive, Australia
Scheduled to start at Dec 21, 13:45 pm IST
Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park, Australia
Scheduled to start at Dec 21, 12:15 pm IST
Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Nepal, Nepal
Scheduled to start at Dec 21, 13:00 pm IST
Harare Sports Club, Harare, Zimbabwe
Janakpur Bolts beat Karnali Yaks by 2 wickets
Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Nepal, Nepal
MP Tigers won by 5 wickets
Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, Surat, India
India Women won by 60 runs
Dr. D.Y. Patil Sports Academy, Thane, India
Afghanistan won by 232 runs
Harare Sports Club, Harare, Zimbabwe
Melbourne Renegades beat Hobart Hurricanesby 6 wickets
GMHBA Stadium, South Geelong, Australia
Pakistan won by 81 runs
Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa
Hambantota Bangla Tigers beat Jaffna Titans by 26 runs
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka
Rajasthan Regals Won By 9 wickets
Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, Surat, India
Northern Challengers beat Rajasthan Regals by 8 wickets
Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, Surat, India
Bangladesh beat West Indies by 27 runs
Arnos Vale Stadium, Arnos Vale, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Southern Spartans beat MP Tigers by 5 wickets
Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, Surat, India
Brisbane Heat beat Melbourne Stars by 8 wickets
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Richmond, Australia
Galle Marvels beat Kandy Bolts by 6 wickets
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka
Match abandoned due to rain
Basin Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand
Jaffna Titans won by 39 runs
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka
Karnali won by 21 runs
Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Nepal, Nepal
Hambantota Bangla Tigers beat Galle Marvels by 4 wickets
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka
Sudurpaschim Royals beat Janakpur Boltsby 8 wickets
Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Nepal, Nepal
Match abandoned due to rain
Harare Sports Club, Harare, Zimbabwe
Kandy Bolts beat Nuwara Eliya Kings by 5 runs
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka
West Indies Women won by 9 wickets
Dr. D.Y. Patil Sports Academy, Thane, India
Sydney Thunder beat Adelaide Strikers by 2 wickets
Manuka Oval, Griffith, Australia
Pakistan beat South Africa by 3 wickets
Eurolux Boland Park, Paarl, South Africa
Hambantota Bangla Tigers won by 5 wickets
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka
Jaffna Titans beat Colombo Jaguars by 9 wickets
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka
Southern Spartans beat Mumbai Marinesby 52 runs
Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, Surat, India
Northern Challengers beat UP Brij Stars by 52 runs
Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, Surat, India
Bangladesh beat West Indiesby 7 runs
Arnos Vale Stadium, Arnos Vale, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Match abandoned due to rain (No toss)
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka
UP Brij Stars beat Southern Spartans by 5 runs
Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, Surat, India
MP Tigers beat Northern Challengers by 12 runs
Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, Surat, India
Match abandoned due to rain (No toss)
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka
Sydney Sixers beat Melbourne Renegades by 5 wickets
Sydney Cricket Ground, Moore Park, Australia
Sudurpaschim Royals beat Karnali Yaksby 6 wickets
Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Nepal, Nepal
Match Abandoned due to rain
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, Sri Lanka