Nearly one-third BJP, Cong nominees are greenhorns
The saffron party dumped 12 sitting MLAs, including two heavyweight ministers Vipul Goel and Rao Narbir Singh, to tide over the anti-incumbency in different pockets and regions
CHANDIGARH: Greenhorns are in abundance for the October 21 assembly polls in Haryana with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its main challenger, Congress, investing quite a bit in first timers.
While the saffron party has given tickets to about 30% newcomers, the Congress has done better by fielding 33% fresh faces.
The ruling BJP, which dumped 12 sitting MLAs including two heavyweight ministers Vipul Goel and Rao Narbir Singh during ticket distribution, has opted to field 26 newcomers to tide over the anti-incumbency element in the polls.
BJP NEWCOMERS
Strategically picking new horses in different pockets and regions of the state, the BJP has introduced 10 fresh faces on the northern and central Haryana assembly seats – Surendar Rana (Naraingarh), Sandeep Singh (Pehowa), Ravi Taranvali (Guhla), Kamlesh Dhanda (Kalayat), Pramod Vij (Panipat City), Mohan Lal Kaushik (Rai), Tirth Singh Rana (Gohana), Meena Narwal (Kharkhauda), Yogeshwar Dutt (Baroda) and Dr Rakesh Kumar (Jhajjar).
The saffron party has fielded 11 newcomers on southern Haryana seats- Babita Phogat (Dadri), Sita Ram Yadav (Ateli), Satya Prakash Jaravata (Pataudi), Manish Yadav (Badshahpur), Nouksham Chaudhary (Punahana), Praveen Dagar (Hathin), Sohanpal Chhonkar (Prithla), Narender Gupta (Faridabad), Laxman Yadav (Kosli), Sunil Musepur (Rewari) and Sudhir Singla (Gurgaon).
Five fresh faces were given tickets from the assembly seats in the north-west part of the state - Sonali Phogat (Adampur), Asha Khedar (Uklana), Laxman Napa (Ratia), Aditya Devi Lal (Dabwali) and Pradeep Ratusariya (Sirsa).
CONGRESS FRESHERS
The Congress which has given 29 tickets to fresh faces has fielded 13 newcomers on northern and central Haryana assembly seats— Venu Singla (Ambala Cantt), Renu Bala (Sadhaura), Shelly Gurjar (Naraingarh), Nirmal Chauhan (Yamunanagar), Shamsher Virk (Assandh), Dr Navjot Kashyap Panwar (Indri), Mewa Singh (Ladwa), Tarlochan Singh (Karnal), Anil Rana (Gharaunda), Sanjay Aggarwal (Panipat City), Subhash Deswal (Safidon), Anshul Singla (Jind), Balram Katwal (Uchana Kalan). The Congress had won only one assembly seat in northern Haryana in the 2014 assembly polls.
The party which did not win a single assembly seat in 2014 elections from north-western Haryana has fielded eight newcomers this time— Amit Sihag (Dabwali), Vineet Kamboj (Rania), Bala Devi (Uklana), Baljeet Sihag (Narnaund), Bhupender Ganguar (Barwala), Om Prakash Panghal (Hansi), Ram Niwas Rara (Hisar) and Randhir Panihar (Nalwa).
It has given eight tickets to fresh faces on southern Haryana seats —Amar Singh (Bhiwani), Rao Arjun Singh (Ateli), Raja Ram Golwa (Nangal Chaudhary), Chiranjeev Rao (Rewari), Dr Shamsuddin (Sohna), Mohammad Ajaz Khan (Punahana), Neeraj Sharma (Faridabad NIT) and Vijay Pratap Singh (Badhkal).