Semifinals for major parties before Lok Sabha elections

JIND: Jind assembly bypoll, scheduled for January 28, is being seen as the semifinal by the political parties before the Lok Sabha elections of 2019. Though the tenure of the elected MLA will be around nine months, if the state assembly elections are held on time, the bypoll is being seen as a dipstick test of people’s mood in Haryana.

All major political parties, except AAP, have already announced their plans of contesting the byelection. BJP, apart from having the incumbent’s psychological advantage, is also buoyed by its recent win in five municipal corporations of the state. While rival parties are apparently looking for suitable candidates, BJP already has line up ready.

In a setback to INLD, son of former party MLA Hari Chand Midha, Krishan Chander joined BJP two months after his father’s death, which had led to the seat falling vacant in August 2018. From BJP, names of head of a prominent ‘Kandela khap’, Tek Ram Kandela, who recently joined BJP in the presence of CM Manohar Lal Khattar in Chandigarh; another Jat leader and who had contested the last election here on BJP ticket Surender Barwala; BJP state secretary Jawahar Saini; and personal assistant (PA) of Khattar, Rajesh Goyal, have also been in discussion locally.

INLD-BSP, the Congress and newly formed outfit Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) are expected to announce the name of their candidates soon.

After breaking away from INLD and setting up JJP, Dushyant Chautala has already announced that his fledgling party will contest its very first election in Jind.

Haryana Congress president Ashok Tanwar told TOI that they would fight the bypoll on the issue of lack of doctors in the hospital, lack of potable water, flood problem in the area, farmers’ issues, and BJP’s failure to build a medical college here despite its stated promise. BJP and “INLD just divided the society on caste and community basis and did nothing for the area’s development,” he added.

INLD state president Ashok Arora said that his party would raise the issue of BJP ignoring the constituency as the sitting MLA belonged to his party. State BJP chief Subhash Barala said that BJP would seek votes in the name oif work they have done all over the state.

The main thing working against BJP here apparently the trend that incumbent party usually fails to get its candidate elected here. Interestingly, despite the sizable Jat population in the area and dominance of the community in this region of Haryana, father of Julana INLD MLA Parmender Dhull, Dal Singh, was the only Jat to have been elected from Jind seat. He was elected in 1972 on the Congress ticket.

After Dal Singh, Mange Ram Gupta was elected four times — as an independent in 1977, and as from Congress in 1991, 2000 and 2005. Brij Mohan Singla won the seat two times, in 1982 from INLD and in 1996 from Haryana Vikash party (HVP). Both times he defeated Gupta. Hari Chand Midha, a Punjabi, won the election consecutively in 2009 and 2014 on INLD ticket.