Chandigarh: The opposition Congress in Haryana retained the bastion of its leader and two-time Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday by defeating ruling BJP candidate and Olympian grappler Yogeshwar Dutt, who suffered his second straight defeat in just over a year.
Congress candidate from the Baroda Assembly seat, Indu Raj Narwal, who took an early lead in the state’s lone bypoll seat over his BJP rival and maintained it till the end, won the polls by a margin of 12,300 votes, more than double compared to the October 2019 Assembly polls.
Terming the win a result of the wave against the BJP-led NDA government for introducing the contentious Central farm laws, state Congress President Kumari Selja said the people of Baroda have given a befitting reply to the anti-farmer and anti-peasant forces with their decision.
“Indu Raj Narwal’s victory is the victory of the farmers and labourers,” she tweeted.
“I assure Baroda residents that the Congress will live up to their expectations,” she added.
The bypoll was necessitated by the death of three-time Congress legislator Sri Krishan Hooda, who had wrested the seat by defeating Yogeshwar Dutt by 4,840 votes in 2019.
Baroda in Sonepat district is a stronghold of Congress leader and former two-time Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who campaigned aggressively along with his MP son Deepender Hooda.
The senior Hooda put in all his political might in the bypoll to retain the seat as the party candidate was handpicked by him.
The former Chief Minister, who himself is a farmer, has been running the party affairs in Haryana and this victory ensured him to be a mass leader in the state that is facing widespread anger of the farmers, who believe their livelihood is at stake due to the new Central farm laws.
This seat was a prestige issue for Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who campaigned aggressively along with his Cabinet colleagues on the development plank.
Interestingly, the BJP tried its luck this time with the support of alliance partner Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), a breakaway faction of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
Earlier, Khattar had said that he was confident of wresting the seat from the Congress with JJP’s support.
The BJP had won 40 of the 90 Assembly seats in 2019 and formed the government with JJP’s support, which had won 10 seats. The Congress had won 31 seats.
