Once prominent, ‘CM City’ tag for Karnal not issue now

As the campaign intensifies in the Karnal segment, the once-prominent factor of ‘CM city’ tag to Karnal has been absent from here as the BJP has fielded CM Nayab Singh Saini from Ladwa. The party has already declared him as the CM face for the upcoming Assembly elections.

No CM face from city

• The journey of Karnal as ‘CM City’ began in October 2014, when Manohar Lal Khattar was first elected as an MLA and subsequently nominated as the CM
• In the 2018 mayoral poll, the tag played a key role, and Khattar’s re-election in 2019 reinforced Karnal’s status as the CM’s stronghold
• On March 12, Khattar resigned as CM. But the city’s coveted title was briefly regained when Nayab Saini won the byelection from here on May 25

In the past one decade, the BJP banked heavily on the ‘CM City’ narrative to boost its campaign, which as per the political observers helped it a lot. This time the BJP has fielded Jagmohan Anand, former media coordinator to former CM, while the Congress has shown faith on two-time MLA Sumoita Singh.

The journey of Karnal as “CM City” began in October 2014, when Manohar Lal Khattar was first elected as an MLA and subsequently nominated as the CM, entitling the city its prestigious title. In the 2018 mayoral elections, the ‘CM city’ tag played a key role, and Khattar’s re-election in 2019 reinforced Karnal’s status as the CM’s stronghold.

However, on March 12, Khattar resigned as Chief Minister and later as an MLA, which led to the city losing its coveted title. It was briefly regained when Nayab Singh Saini was elected as an MLA on June 4, after contesting a byelection from here on May 25.

Political experts consider the ‘CM City’ tag to have been an important issue in every election held previously. “Nayab Singh Saini has already been declared as the CM face for the upcoming election, and he is contesting from Ladwa now, so there is no possibility that Karnal is going to get this tag again this time. In this election, this issue is missing, which may adversely affect the ruling party,” said Dr Kushal Pal, a political observer and principal of Indira Gandhi National College, Ladwa.

Now, Karnal is not a hot seat like in the past election. “It was an interesting seat in 2019 and the byelection in 2024, when the CM contested from it, but now Saini is not contesting from here, therefore the election will not be as like it was earlier,” said Ramji Lal, former principal, Dyal Singh College Karnal.