Cong, BJP locked in battle of prestige in Adampur bypoll

The constituency is considered a stronghold of BJP candidate Bhavya Bishnoi’s family; Cong pulling out all stops to retain the seat won during 2019 assembly polls

: The November 3 Adampur bypoll is expected to see a straight fight between the Congress and the ruling BJP with the latter’s candidate trying to save his family bastion, while the other giving his all to retain the assembly seat won during the 2019 state elections.

Cong, BJP locked in battle of prestige in Adampur bypoll

The bypoll was necessitated after Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as a Congress MLA and switched to BJP.

The BJP has pitted Kuldeep Bishnoi’s son Bhavya Bishnoi, who had lost his security deposit as Congress candidate in the 2019 parliamentary polls from Hisar, from Adampur. The Congress has put its weight behind former union minister Jai Parkash, who is considered to be close to leader of opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

A fight for honour for Hooda, Bishnoi

The bypoll is a battle of prestige for former Adampur MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi as this constituency is considered to be his family’s stronghold and they have been undefeated from the seat for the last 54 years. A win from here will underscore Bishnoi’s hold in this Bagri belt seat and BJP’s tally will reach to 41.

The results of this bypoll will also give a reflection of Hooda’s influence outside the Deswali belt.

After the elevation of Udai Bhan as state Congress chief, this is the first election being fought under his and Hooda’s leadership and the senior Congress leaders like Kumari Selja, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Kiran Choudhry and Ajay Yadav have been missing from the campaign.

Congress backing on Jat voters; BJP eyeing non-Jats

The Congress and Hooda are banking on Jat voters, while BJP nominee Bhavya is banking heavily on non-Jat voters. This constituency has 1.70 lakh voters, of which nearly 52,000 voters are Jats and 28,000 Bishnoi voters. Congress candidate Jai Parkash had lost to Kuldeep Bishnoi from this seat in 2009 assembly polls by a margin of 6,015 votes in a head to head contest.

Bishnoi’s family has been representing this seat since 1972.

Rohtak-based political commentator Satish Tyagi said the Adampur bypoll will see polarisation of votes on caste lines.

“This election is not being fought by BJP and Congress but between Bhajan Lal clan and Hooda family. Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son Deepender have made this election a prestige for them and their old political rivalry with Bhajan Lal family can be seen during their canvassing,” Tyagi said.

“The Congress and BJP candidates are not getting full support from the leaders of their respective parties. The INLD and Aam Aadmi party nominees are now not in the scene and they would get a meagre vote,” he added.

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state Congress chief Udai Bhan are trying to woo Jat and dalit voters.

Udai Bhan said he had congratulated Kuldeep when he was made a member of the Congress working committee, but when he became the state chief, Kuldeep rebelled against the Congress.

“This shows his anti-dalit mentality. Therefore, the people of Adampur have a chance to teach a lesson to a person of such mentality in the by-election. This time, Bhavya will face the defeat as his father has failed as a public representative,” he added.

BJP candidate Bhavya’s father Kuldeep Bishnoi said the Adampur constituency was ignored during Hooda’s rule and he ensured development of the area with the help of chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

“The people of this area have been supporting us for a long time and now they will become part of the government by electing Bhavya from here,” he added.

Hooda campaigns for Cong candidate Jai Parkash

Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday campaigned for Congress candidate Jai Parkash in various villages of Adampur constituency.

While addressing a gathering at Chuli Bagdiyan village in Adampur, Hooda said the ruling BJP-JJP government had failed on all fronts as people from all sections have been hit hard by the policies of the government.

“In the last 8 years, the BJP worked to push back the entire Haryana including Adampur. During the entire tenure, the BJP completely ignored Adampur. The representative who became MLA from here also never raised the voice of Adampur in the assembly,” he said.

He said that special emphasis would be laid on the development of Adampur when the Congress government will be formed in Haryana.