BJP banks on sitting MP Rao Inderjit Singh for Gurugram
Gurugram: BJP has once again relied on Rao Inderjit Singh for Gurugram Lok Sabha constituency seat. After the BJP announced his name on Saturday, Singh will be hoping to win from the Gurugram seat for the fifth time. Rao Inderjit is the son of Rao Birender Singh who has also won from the Gurugram seat a number of times.
In 1998, Rao Inderjit Singh contested from Congress and won. His victory was shortlived as in 1999 he was defeated by Sudha Yadav from BJP who besides being a tall leader of the saffron party is also the widow of Sukhbir Singh Yadav, a martyr in Kargil war. In 2004, Rao Inderjit defeated Sudha Yadav and from thereon he has been winning the Gurugram Lok Sabha seat regularly from Congress and BJP seats. In 2014, Rao Inderjit for the first time fought on BJP ticket and won by more than one lakh votes.
Despite being a prominent leader nationally, Rao Inderjit in the past has not shied away in expressing his displeasure on the workings of the state government. Recently, he disagreed with the state government policy of moving the substantial portion of Aravallis out of the Punjab land and preservation act (PLPA). He has also stated several times that it is the Central government that has played a much greater part in revamping the city's infrastructure by improving roads and connectivity.
Though Rao Birender Singh and his son have had a formidable record in winning the Ahirwal belt maximum number of times, they have been defeated a few times. After the emergency, Rao Birender Singh of Congress was defeated by lawyer Manohar Lal Saini from Janata Party. Later in 1980 elections, Saini was defeated by Rao Birender Singh. The victorious reign of Rao Birender Singh carried on with huge wins in 1984 and 1989 elections.
The tides for Rao Birender Singh changed in 1991 elections when he was defeated by Colonel Ram Singh, a retired Army soldier who had represented India in 1962 and 1965 war with China and Pakistan respectively. Colonel Singh was instrumental in ensuring BJP win for the first time in the belt when he defeated Rao Birender Singh in 1996 General elections. This is for the last time Rao Birender Singh contested in the General elections.
