In Barwala, JJP MLA wants BJP ticket, ex-legislator eyes Cong nomination

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, August 8

In the Barwala Assembly constituency, one of the most backward segments in Hisar district, a strange political scenario has emerged ahead of the Assembly elections, as the sitting MLA from Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) is aspiring to contest from the BJP while a former MLA who rebelled against the party and contested the previous election as an Independent is eying for the Congress ticket.

The Assembly segment has a mix of urban and rural electorate who had elected the JJP candidate, Jogi Ram Sihag, from here in the 2019 Assembly polls. He defeated the BJP’s Surender Punia by about 4,000 votes. While the Congress rebel and former MLA Ram Niwas Ghorela and Congress candidate Bhupender Gangwa polled about 17,000 and 8,000 votes, respectively.

In the changed scenario, now both Ghorela and Gangwa were staking the claim for the Congress ticket on the plea that there should be a candidate from the OBC from Barwala. However, political experts maintain that the Congress’s experiment of fielding a backward class candidate in Barwala had failed in previous two polls – 2014 and 2019. During both the polls, an OBC candidate suffered defeat when Ved Narang – belonging to the Punjabi community — won on the INLD ticket in 2014 and a Jat candidate Sihag won on the JJP ticket in 2019.

JJP MLA Sihag said he would contest the poll and hoped to get a nomination on the BJP ticket. “I will not be a candidate from the JJP. I have extended my support to the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls,” he said adding that he had worked for the electorate in his five-year tenure which cemented his claim. However, the BJP’s cadre want a candidate from the party as Sihag is yet to join the party.

Ghorela also claimed that he would contest the poll from Barwala and hoped that the Congress would field him. Gangwa had recently organised a meeting which was addressed by Sirsa MP Kumari Selja in Barwala and aspired for the party ticket. Both are from the OBC community.

Prof ML Goyal, a retired professor of political science, said “The Congress could change its strategy and field a Jat face for a change, since the INLD and JJP are on weak footing. Accept Ram Niwas Ghorela (2009), Jat candidates has won Barwala seat since 1982.”

Parties on sticky wicket

• While sitting JJP legislator Jogi Ram Sihag is aspiring to contest on BJP ticket, ex-Congress MLA Ram Niwas Ghorela who fought as an Independent in 2019 poll is eyeing the party ticket this time
• However, BJP wants a candidate among cadre as Sihag is yet to join the BJP. The Congress is in dilemma as two aspirants Ghorela and Bhupender Gangwa, another asiprant, performed badly in 2019