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Dynasts deliver for BJP as 7 out of 8 win, most had Congress link

Shakti Rani Sharma, the wife of former Congress leader Venod Sharma and mother of Rajya Sabha MP Kartikeya Sharma, won the Kalka seat on a BJP ticket by 10,883 votes.

Haryana Assembly Elections 2024, Haryana Assembly polls, Adampur, Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian express news, current affairs

Rao Narbir Singh won the Badshahpur seat on a BJP ticket by a large margin of 60,705 votes. He is the son of former Haryana minister Rao Mahavir Singh Yadav and grandson of late Punjab MLC Mohar Singh Yadav.

Among the eight dynasts the BJP fielded in Haryana — most from families with Congress backgrounds — seven won their elections, with only Kuldeep Bishnoi’s son Bhavya Bishnoi losing the Adampur seat to the Congress by 1,268 votes. While it sees itself as a party that functions on cadre lines, the BJP tasted complete success among the dynasts it fielded.

Shakti Rani Sharma, the wife of former Congress leader Venod Sharma and mother of Rajya Sabha MP Kartikeya Sharma, won the Kalka seat on a BJP ticket by 10,883 votes.

Manmohan Bhadana, son of former MLA Kartar Singh Bhadana, won the Samalkha seat on a BJP ticket by 19,315 votes. The senior Badhana was instrumental in the formation of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) government in 1999, when his breakaway group of MLAs from the Haryana Vikas Party supported Devi Lal’s son Om Prakash Chautala, who went on to become the CM. In 2012, Kartar Singh won an Uttar Pradesh Assembly bypoll from Khatauli on an RLD ticket. He joined the BJP recently.

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Aarti Rao, the daughter of Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh, won the Ateli seat on a BJP ticket by 3,085 seats, defeating BSP candidate Attar Lal. Rao Inderjit Singh had also quit the Congress to join the BJP a decade ago.

Shruti Choudhry, the daughter of veteran politician Kiran Choudhry, who left the Congress to join the BJP in June 2024, won the Tosham seat by 14,257 votes.

Krishan Middha, the son of former INLD MLA Harichand Middha, won the Jind seat as a BJP candidate, defeating the Congress candidate by 15,860 votes.

Also Read | Express View on Haryana, J&K poll results: Two decisive wins & one sore, irresponsible loser

Sunil Sangwan, a former jailer under whose tenure Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim got parole several times, won Dadri on a BJP ticket by 1,957 votes, defeating the Congress candidate. He is the son of former MP Satpal Sangwan who quit Congress to join the BJP.

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Also Read | Anti-Jat consolidation, aggressive campaign, ticket strategy: how BJP bounced back in Haryana

Bhavya Bishnoi, son of Kuldeep Bishnoi, lost in Adampur on a BJP ticket to the Congress. The son of former CM Bhajan Lal, Kuldeep Bishnoi founded the Haryana Janhit Party after being ousted from the Congress in 2007. He allied with the BJP between 2011 and 2014, and merged his party with Congress in 2016. In 2022, he joined the BJP.

Vikas Pathak

Vikas Pathak is deputy associate editor with The Indian Express and writes on national politics. He has over 17 years of experience, and has worked earlier with The Hindustan Times and The Hindu, among other publications. He has covered the national BJP, some key central ministries and Parliament for years, and has covered the 2009 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and many state assembly polls. He has interviewed many Union ministers and Chief Ministers. Vikas has taught as a full-time faculty member at Asian College of Journalism, Chennai; Symbiosis International University, Pune; Jio Institute, Navi Mumbai; and as a guest professor at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. Vikas has authored a book, Contesting Nationalisms: Hinduism, Secularism and Untouchability in Colonial Punjab (Primus, 2018), which has been widely reviewed by top academic journals and leading newspapers. He did his PhD, M Phil and MA from JNU, New Delhi, was Student of the Year (2005-06) at ACJ and gold medalist from University Rajasthan College in Jaipur in graduation. He has been invited to top academic institutions like JNU, St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and IIT Delhi as a guest speaker/panellist. ... Read More

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