BJP nets 3 seats in Gurugram, independent bags the fourth
The party won Gurgaon, Sohna and Pataudi seats, but lost Badshahpur to an independent candidate
GURUGRAM: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to win three out of the four assembly constituencies in the district on Thursday, but with a much lesser margin as compared to its performance in the 2014 assembly polls. The party won Gurgaon, Sohna and Pataudi, with independent candidates giving it a tough fight in two seats. In Badshahpur, BJP’S Manish Yadav suffered a defeat at the hands of independent candidate Rakesh Daultabad.
In 2014, the BJP, which had won the Gurgaon seat by a record margin, had made a clean sweep in the district.
Badshahpur constituency is a mix of rural and urban areas. Political watchers said that BJP’S move of fielding a rookie on the seat backfired with residents of new sectors opting for Daultabad, who has previously contested as an independent candidate in 2009 and later on an Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) ticket in 2014. On both occasions, he came second, but got considerable votes.
Another reason being given for Daultabad’s victory is that a large section of Ahir (Yadav) voters, who were unhappy over the decision of BJP to axe sitting MLA Rao Narbir Singh’s ticket, decided to either vote for the independent candidate or stay away from polling. This was also one of the reasons that voting percentage remained the lowest in Badshahpur across all constituencies in Gurugram district.
“I promise to work for the people of Badshahpur and thank them for this victory,” Daultabad said in a statement.
The BJP, however, managed to stave off the threat in Gurgaon by heavily mobilizing the rank and file of the party cadre, which also helped overcome the disquiet over ticket distribution. Its candidate, Sudhir Singla, won the Gurgaon seat with a margin of 33,315 votes over independent candidate Mohit Grover, who contested the election for the first time but managed to race ahead of the Congress.
Grover, a 26-year-old Punjabi, seems to have gained votes from his community that has a considerable presence here. His father
Madan Lal Grover, a long-time Congress leader, has also served as district president of the party. Congress candidate Sukhbir Kataria came third in the Gurgaon constituency.
In Sohna, BJP’S Sanjay Singh defeated Rohtash Khatana of Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), the richest candidate in Haryana polls. “I have fought election as an ordinary political worker and people from all sections in Sohna have voted for me. I assure them of all-round development,” said Singh.
Pataudi, which is the only reserved seat in Gurugram, did not witness much drama as BJP candidate Satya Prakash Jrawta won with a comfortable margin of 36,579 votes against his nearest rival Narender Singh Pahari, an RSS pracharak. Pahari fought as an independent candidate and expected support from the sizeable Yadav community in the constituency, which, however, preferred to stick with the BJP.
“This is a victory of BJP and people of Pataudi, who have voted for me cutting across caste and community lines. We are confident of forming the government in Haryana as we have required numbers,” said Jrawta.