Setback for Cong in Sonipat too, former CM Hooda loses

SONIPAT: In a major setback for Congress, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda lost by a margin of 1,64,864 votes in Sonipat. His rival from BJP and incumbent MP Ramesh Chander Kaushik got 5,87,664 votes whereas Hooda got 4,22,800. JJP’s Digvijay Singh Chautala could garner only 51,162 votes.
Hooda had been trailing since the morning and conceded defeat by afternoon Thursday. Hooda said the Modi wave was the reason for BJP’s landslide victory across the country.
While he brushed aside queries on his defeat, Hooda raised doubts over the functioning of EVMs. “There are obvious questions on the functioning of electronic voting machines, and the Election Commission cannot just dismiss them,” said Hooda.
At his office in Sonipat, the chairs remained largely unoccupied as a handful of party workers gathered to get updates on the results. Most Congress workers and leaders said lack of strong leadership was the reason behind the abysmal performance in Haryana.
“The party has no organisational structure in the state. We need to make some tough decisions and change the leadership in Haryana if we have to win the assembly election,” said Devraj Dewan, a former MLA in Sonipat.
Meanwhile, BJP workers celebrated the party’s win in a makeshift office and at his home. Men and women workers danced to drum beats and laddoos were being distributed to all visitors. They chanted, “phir ek baar Modi sarkar.”
Kaushik told TOI that he was sure of victory with a margin of more than a lakh votes.
“I thank people for recognising our efforts. The development work done by the Union and the state governments under the leadership of Modiji and Manohar Lal Khattar are the reasons behind the party’s massive victory,” he said.