Rebels set to queer Cong pitch
AMBALA:Congress rebels, Nirmal Singh and his daughter Chitra Sarwara, who are contesting as Independent candidates from Ambala City and Ambala Cantt, respectively have made the contest on both seats more difficult, especially for the Congress, which is concerned about division of votes.
Nirmal, a four-time MLA and former Haryana minister, was seeking Congress ticket for his daughter from Ambala Cantt but Congress instead fielded Venu Singla Aggarwal. He turned rebel and filed his nomination from Ambala city while fielded his daughter from Ambala Cantt.
Interestingly, Nirmal is not targeting top leadership of the Congress in his poll speeches and rather criticising Haryana Congress president Kumari Selja, accusing her of fixing all tickets.
“Nirmal’s fight is not easy as the ruling BJP commands hold in both the constituencies. But the father-daughter duo will definitely pose threat to Congress candidates, causing division of votes,” said a senior journalist.
Explaining about his decision to contest as independent, Nirmal said, “I am fighting on different issues and people of Ambala will prove that by ensuring our victory on these two seats. We were denied ticket and we have nothing to loose.” He said that he will repeat the results of 1996, when he was elected from Naggal assembly segment while contesting as independent from jail.
The prospects of father-daughter duo increased after the Indian National Lok Dal-Shiromani Akali Dal (INLD-SAD) alliance decided not to field its candidate on both the seats and extended support to them.
Even, the Congress leader Himmat Singh, who had contested from Ambala City against BJP’s Assem Goel in last assembly elections, has extended his support to Nirmal.
Nirmal also holds command in rural areas as most of the villages in Ambala City were part of his then Naggal constituency, however, he was facing tough fight in urban areas from BJP’s sitting MLA Aseem Goel.
Meanwhile, there were reports of Goel being backed by two-time Congress MLA from this constituency, Vinod Sharma. Nirmal was close to Sanjay Gandhi and was associated with the Congress since 1976.
Locals say Chitra does not pose much threat to BJP candidate Anil Vij, who has won this seat four times, but her candidature has rather left Congress candidate Venu Singla, a confidante of Kumari Selja, worried.