Haryana Assembly Polls: Shakuntla Khatak , Kalanaur (reserved) MLA

Khatak was a professional nurse at PGIMS in Rohtak before she became a Congress MLA in 2009. She was rewarded with a ticket from Kalanaur for her loyalty to the family of former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda as she devotedly looked after the leader’s father, Ranbir Singh Hooda. She was re-elected in 2014.

Shakuntla Khatak is the Congress MLA from Kalanaur (reserved) assembly segment from Haryana.

Khatak was a professional nurse at PGIMS in Rohtak before she became a Congress MLA in 2009. She was rewarded with a ticket from Kalanaur for her loyalty to the family of former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda as she devotedly looked after the leader’s father, Ranbir Singh Hooda. She was re-elected in 2014.

Educational qualification: BA

Assets declared: Total- ₹1.53 crore

Movable- ₹25.89 lakh

Immovable- ₹1.27 crore

Constituency primer: Kalanaur is the only seat, out of the four constituencies in Rohtak district, to be reserved for candidates belonging to the SC community. Of total 12 MLAs elected to date, seven have been female. The seat is considered a strong hold of Congress whose candidates have bagged victory most number of times from here.

Electoral history:

2014: Shakuntla Khatak of Congress defeated Ram Avtar Balmiki of BJP by 3,972 votes.

2009: Khatak defeated Naga Ram of INLD by 27,860 votes.

2005- Kartar Devi of Congress won against INLD’s Mewa Singh by 5,843 votes.

How she performed:

Known as a steadfast representative, Khatak has been voicing people’s concerns and raising issues, including shortage of doctors at medical centres, in her area. Being an opposition MLA might have worked to her disadvantage but majority of residents have given her thumbs up, saying the leader has “not let them down”. Though Khatak claims of getting projects worth ₹800 crore executed in the area, connectivity and infrastructure have not seen an impressive growth during her tenure.

MLA’s quote: The BJP-led state government has failed to resolve issues of my constituency. People are still struggling for basic amenities. They have been biased against my area while carrying out development projects in the state.

By the way: She is often seen riding an Enfield bike