Lotus blooms on four seats in Jatland
For the first time in ‘Jatland’, which is considered to be a strong bastion of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the BJP today clinched victory on four seats, while the Congress won only one seat in the Sonepat (General) Assembly segment. Apart from this, one seat went to BJP rebel Independent candidate Devender Kadyan.
Congress candidate Satpal Brahamchari won the recently held Lok Sabha elections from Sonepat. Within six months, residents of four out of six Assembly segments preferred BJP candidates.
In the 2019 elections, the Congress won four seats - Gohana, Sonepat, Kharkhoda and Baroda, while the BJP bagged two - Rai and Ganaur.
This time, the mandate is quite opposite as the BJP won four seats - Rai, Sonepat, Gohana and Kharkhoda, while an Independent candidate won from Ganaur.
As per the results, Rai constituency is considered to be the gateway to Chandigarh from Delhi and the BJP began its victory from here. BJP candidate Krishna Gahlawat won the seat with a margin of 4,673 votes by defeating Congress candidate Jai Bhagwan Antil. Krishna Gahlawat secured 64,614 votes, while Congress candidate Antil got 59,941 votes.
In Sonepat, BJP candidate and Mayor Nikhil Madaan won with a margin of 29,627 votes by defeating Congress candidate Surender Panwar. Madaan received 84,827 votes, while Congress candidate Surender Panwar got 55,200 votes.
Notably, Nikhil had won the Mayoral elections in December 2020 on the Congress ticket and become the first mayor of Sonepat. Later, he left the Congress in July this year and joined the BJP.
From Gohana constituency, BJP candidate former MP Arvind Sharma won the elections with a margin of 10,370 votes by defeating Congress candidate and three-time MLA Jagbeer Malik. Arvind received 56,343 votes, while the Congress candidate polled 45,973 votes.
Malik was elected as an MLA from Gohana consecutively in 2009, 2014 and 2019. Arvind also created a history by opening an account for the BJP from Gohana. Since 1967, no BJP candidate had won from the Gohana Assembly segment.
Similarly, the BJP opened its account from the Kharkhoda Assembly seat for the first time. The seat came into existence in 2009. Since then, Congress candidate Jaiveer Valmiki, who is considered to be a close associate of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, was elected MLA from here. This time, BJP candidate Pawan Kharkhoda won the seat with a margin of 5,635 votes.
Pawan received 58,084 votes, while Congress candidate and three-time MLA Jaiveer Valmiki got 52,449 votes.
From Baroda constituency, Congress candidate Induraj Narwal won with a margin of 5,202 votes by defeating Independent candidate Kapoor Singh Narwal. He was elected MLA for the first time from the seat in the November 2019 bypolls. He is considered to be a close associate of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
BJP rebel Independent candidate Devender Kadyan won the elections with a margin of 35,209 votes from the Ganaur constituency. He defeated Congress candidate and former Speaker Kuldeep Sharma. Kadyan polled 77,248 votes while Sharma received 42,039 votes.
