Hoodas make 10 rebels withdraw papers
Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son Deepender Hooda persuaded at least 10 prominent Congress rebels to withdraw their candidatures today. The Congress, seeking to return to power after a decade, is still facing revolt from several formidable leaders who lost in the ticket race.
Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda visited the residences of rebels Jabir Mallour and Himmat Singh, who had filed their nominations from Ambala City, to persuade them to withdraw their candidature. They were upset that four-time MLA Nirmal Singh, also from the Hooda camp, got the ticket.
Six-time MLA and former state finance minister Sampat Singh had filed his nomination papers as an Independent from Nalwa constituency against the official candidate Anil Mann. The Hoodas also prevailed upon him to withdraw his candidature.
Former Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Ram Kishan Fouji, another rebel, withdrew his candidature from Bawani Khera (SC). He lost the ticket race to Pradeep Narwal this time after losing two consecutive polls previously.
Prem Singh Malik, Suman Sharma, and Naresh from the Hooda camp withdrew their nominations from Hansi in favour of official candidate Rahul Makkar, who also belongs to the Hooda camp.
“We have ensured that several rebels have taken back their nomination papers. Besides others, Sudhir Kumar (Pataudi), Shamsuddin (Sohna), Pradeep (Sohna) and Rajinder (Nilokheri) have withdrawn their candidatures,” said former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Interestingly, Nirmal Singh’s daughter Chitra Sarwara did not withdraw her candidature. Belonging to the Hooda camp, she lost the ticket to the Selja camp’s Parvinder Pal Pari. A formidable candidate, she did not get the ticket in the 2019 poll either but came second as an Independent with 44,406 votes.
Adarsh Pal Singh had come third in Jagadhri in the 2019 poll on the BSP ticket with 47,988 votes. Congress’ Akram Khan came second but lost by a margin of over 16,000 votes to Cabinet Minister Kanwar Pal Gujjar. The anti-BJP vote was divided between the two. After joining the Congress, Adarsh Pal Singh relied on the Hooda camp for the ticket, but it went to Selja camp’s Akram Khan again. He shifted to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the last day of filing nominations and secured the ticket.
Relying on the Hooda camp, Brij Pal was expecting a ticket from Sadhaura (SC) but shifted to the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance after the ticket went to sitting MLA Renu Bala, who hails from the Selja camp.
Former MLA Rohita Rewri, who joined Congress from BJP in the run-up to the Lok Sabha poll, has entered the fray as an Independent from Panipat city. Congress has fielded Varinder Kumar Shah. Both Rewri and Shah contested against each other in 2014, with Rewri winning by a substantial margin of 53,721 votes. However, the BJP dropped her for the 2019 poll and fielded Pramod Vij.
Former Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sharda Rathore has a similar story. She won twice on a Congress ticket from Ballabgarh (2005 and 2009) but did not get the ticket in 2014. She shifted to BJP in 2019 but did not receive a ticket there either. She rejoined Congress in 2022 and, after losing the ticket to Parag Sharma, is contesting as an Independent.
Former MLA Lalit Nagar, contesting as an Independent from Tigaon, has also refused to budge.
Rajesh Joon contested the 2014 poll from Bahadurgarh as an Independent but came third with over 28,000 votes. After being snubbed for a ticket by Congress this time, he filed his nomination papers as an Independent.
Contesting as Independents, Satbir Bhana in Pundri, former MLA Raj Kumar Valmiki in Nilokheri (SC), and former MLA Satvinder Rana in Kalayat have also refused to back down.
