Chandigarh:
Two ministers are among the seven MLAs who have been denied a BJP ticket in the first list of 78 candidates announced by the party on Monday for the October 21 Haryana Assembly polls.
While Vipul Goel was sitting MLA from Faridabad, Rao Narbir Singh represented Badshahpur constituency in Gurgaon district.
Besides, Deputy Speaker Santosh Yadav, who represented Ateli constituency in Mahendergarh district, too was denied party ticket to re-contest from the seat.
Goel has been replaced by Narinder Gupta, Manish Yadav comes in for Rao Narbir Singh and Sita Ram Yadav has replaced Santosh Yadav.
However, among the ministers who have been re-nominated include Capt Abhimanyu, Ram Bilas Sharma, Anil Vij, Krishan Kumar Bedi, Karan Dev Kamboj, Kavita Jain and O P Dhankar.
The BJP had won 47 seats in the 2014 assembly polls and after its win in the Jind bypolls earlier this year, the party’s strength rose to 48. The BJP has set a target of winning 75 plus seats this time.
Party sources said some of the sitting MLAs who failed to get re-nomination did not get along too well with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who is seeking re-election from Karnal seat.
Failing to perform up to the party’s expectations could have also cost some MLAs their seats, they said.
The sources said Khattar, who has emerged as a powerful leader of the party delivering results on the ground, had a major say in the selection of candidates.
A couple of the legislators, who have been denied renomination from their seats, had been sulking for the past two years alleging step-motherly treatment by their own government vis–vis the rival group.
“Every MLA wants that he/she be heard. But there is one set of MLAs who are trying to run the show and throw their weight around. They are not avatars of Lord Vishnu. We only want that we too should be heard,” Santosh Sarwan, the BJP MLA from Mullana, had alleged giving vent to her ire.
Even Gurgaon MLA Umesh Aggarwal, the seat from where party has not yet announced its candidate, too had pointed fingers at his own party government on various issues.
From Mullana reserved seat, Santosh Chauhan Sarwan has been replaced by Rajbir Barara, Shyam Singh Rana has failed to get re-nomination from Radaur seat from where Minister Karan Dev Kamboj will now contest. Kamboj represented Indri earlier.
From Gulha reserved seat in Kaithal district, Kulwant Ram Bazigar has been replaced by Ravi Taranvali, from Pataudi reserved in Gurgaon district, Bimla Chaudhary has been denied ticket from the seat and Satya Prakash has been declared as BJP candidate from there.
Tejpal Tanwar has been denied renomination from Sohna in Gurgaon, from where Sanjay Singh will be the party nominee.
Several Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLAs also switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party before the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year and now ahead of the state assembly polls.
INLD turncoats, majority of them sitting MLAs, have been major gainers as the BJP announced its candidates. Lone SAD MLA Balkaur Singh, whose entry into the BJP fold recently had angered the Shiromani Akali Dal, has also been rewarded with a ticket from his Kalanwali reserved seat in Sirsa.
Among the INLD turncoats who joined the BJP — Ranbir Gangwa will fight from Nalwa, Zakir Hussain from Nuh, Naseem Ahmed from Ferozepur Jhirkha, Nagender Bhadana from Faridabad NIT, Ram Chand Kamboj from Rania, all legislators.
Besides, INLD leader from Rohtak district Satish Nandal, who also joined the BJP recently, will fight from Garhi Sampla Kiloi, from where former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is a sitting legislator.
Ram Kumar Kashyap, another former INLD leader who also switched over to the BJP, will fight from Indri, while another sitting legislator of the party who too crossed over to the saffron party, Parminder Dhull, will fight from his Julana seat.
In its first list for the election to Haryana’s 90-seat assembly, the BJP has fielded Pawan Beniwal and Leela Ram Gurjar to take on INLD and Congress stalwarts Abhay Singh Chautala and Randeep Singh Surjewala from their respective constituencies — Ellenabad and Kaithal.
Late deputy prime minister Devi Lal’s grandson Aditya Chautala has been fielded from Dabwali, the Chautala clan’s bastion represented by Naina Chautala, wife of former MP Ajay Singh Chautala.
Along expected lines, the BJP has given tickets to a number of noted sportspersons who had joined it in recent weeks with wrestler Babita Phogat, former Indian hockey captain Sandeep Singh, Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt contesting from Dadri, Pehowa and Baroda, respectively.
