Boost for Hooda as 4-time former MLA returns to Cong after 4 yrs, daugher in tow

According to Nirmal, the Congress ticket was not given to Chitra “due to opposition by the then state Congress president Kumari Selja even as Sonia Gandhi was against denial of ticket to her”. Upset with the move, the duo had decided to contest the election as Independent candidates. Later, they also formed the Haryana Democratic Front, a political outfit. In April 2022, they joined the Aam Aadmi Party after the party won Assembly elections in neighbouring Punjab. As Selja was state president of Congress that time, according to Nirmal, “he had no choice but to join AAP”. Nirmal was made AAP’s national joint secretary while Chitra was given the responsibility of vice-president in the party’s Haryana unit.

Later, Selja was replaced by Hooda loyalist Udai Bhan. Hoping for the Congress’s better prospects in 2024 Assembly polls, Nirmal and Chitra decided to join the Congress while resigning from the AAP nearly a week ago. Nirmal has been expressing his willingness to contest the 2024 Assembly election from Ambala City, adding that Chitra will again contest from Ambala Cantt. Nirmal is also seen as a potential candidate for Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat as he had contested the 2019 election from this seat as Congress candidate.

Nirmal terms Hooda the “best CM” of Haryana so far, adding that “he does what he says”. In the internal politics of Congress, Nirmal’s joining is seen as a boost for Hooda. Nirmal has been alleging that northern Haryana has been ignored in terms of development works despite the fact it has been instrumental in formation of different governments in the state.

Nirmal, who is from Mohra village of Ambala, calls himself an animal lover. He runs a stud farm after the name of his father Master Hazara Singh. The former MLA had started his politics during his college days in Ambala. Initially, he was impressed with the JP movement. However, in 1976 he joined the youth Congress and remained its state president for seven years (1982-89). In 1982, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi fielded him as Congress candidate from Naggal Assembly seat. The Congress lost the battle in the state but Nirmal was elected to the Assembly. He won a second time in 1991 and became a minister in the Bhajan Lal government. Later, he lost his ministry after he was arrested in connection with a murder case. Nirmal alleged that he was implicated in the case by his influential political opponents in the Congress.

Nirmal was denied the Congress ticket for 1996 Assembly election. But he fought the election from the Ambala jail as an Independent candidate. Then, his wife Naib Kaur campaigned for him. Nirmal says he won the poll battle and all other candidates lost their deposits. He offered support to the then Bansi Lal government. Nirmal lost the 2000 election but again won in 2005. He says the then chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda did several works for his area.