Rivals make strategies to unsettle Kuldeep Bishnoi in his citadel
Chandigarh: With the Election Commission announcing a byelection for Adampur Assembly seat on November 3, political parties have begun a hunt for their prospective candidates while at the same time scouting for what their rivals have in mind.
The election has been necessitated due to the resignation of Kuldeep Bishnoi who quit the Congress on August 3 and joined the BJP after he voted against his party's official candidate Ajay Maken in June this year.
For Bishnoi, whose family has never lost Adampur seat ever since his father Bhajan Lal became MLA from here for the first time in 1968, this election is going to be a crucial test to prove his mettle.
A former chief minister of Haryana, Bhajan Lal won this seat for a record nine times in 1968, 1972, 1977, 1982, 1991, 1996 and 2000, while his wife Jasma Devi won this seat in 1987.
Bishnoi won this seat on four occasions in 2005, 2009, 2014, and 2019 while his wife Renuka Bishnoi emerged victorious in a by-election held in 2012.
A BJP ticket for Bishnoi or any of his family members seems a forgone conclusion, particularly after the death in a Goa restaurant of Tik-Tok star Sonali Phogat who contested against him in 2019 and was being considered the only other claimant of the ticket.
According to his poll managers, Bishnoi plans to field his son Bhavya Bishnoi this time rather than contesting himself.
"Bishnoi, his wife Renuka and son Bhavya have been campaigning in the constituency ever since he has resigned from the Congress and they have covered all the 54 villages of the constituency," said the poll managers.
A graduate of the London School of Economics and holder of a postgraduate in Contemporary India from Oxford University, 29-year-old Bhavya Bishnoi was engaged to actor Mehreen Pirzada in Jaipur in March last year, but the engagement was called off by the two four months later.
Bhavya Bishnoi also contested the 2019 Parliamentary election from Hisar, but in the strong Modi wave in the wake of Balakot strikes, he finished third after Bijendra Singh and Dushyant Chautala and could poll only 15.63 percent votes.
But Adampur seat is altogether a different ballgame for Bishnoi as his family could retain this seat in the most trying circumstances in 1977 and 1987 when the Congress could win merely 3 and 5 seats due to anti-emergency and a strong Devi Lal wave respectively.
As the filing of nominations begins on October 7 and ends on October 14, the BJP may announce its ticket anytime.
As far as the Congress is concerned, the name of Jai Parkash, a two-time MP and former MLA from Kalayat is doing the rounds.
The name of former minister Sampat Singh is also being discussed in political circles, but when contacted by the Millennium Post, he categorically stated that he was not going to contest the bypoll.
"I have already clarified to the party leadership that I am not a candidate for this by-election," Sampat Singh said.
Kurda Ram, a former Sarpanch, is also trying hard for the party ticket.
"We have convened a meeting of senior party leaders in Delhi on October 7 and the party will take a call on the ticket after that only," said former CM and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
The INLD leaders, on the other hand, will be meeting on Thursday to take a call on this issue.
Abhay Singh Chautala, INLD MLA from Ellenabad said that the meeting will be held at Hisar on Thursday to discuss the issue.
Both Congress, as well as the INLD, want to see the choice of their rivals before deciding on their candidates.
The Aam Aadmi Party has launched 'Shiksha Samvad Yatra' in Adampur highlighting the 'poor plight' of education and shortage of teachers in schools in the state.
The party is pinning its hopes on this bypoll, as a good performance here can provide it the ground for the assembly polls to be held in 2024.
