Haryana assembly elections: Candidates back out, now 7 in fray in Kalka
Aiming to reclaim the Kalka assembly constituency, the BJP is banking on Shakti Rani Sharma, 71, who with assets worth ₹144 crore, including those of her spouse, is among the top 10 richest candidates in fray in Haryana
The race for the Kalka assembly seat was trimmed down on Monday as four candidates—including the official nominees from the Jannayak Janata Party and Rashtrawadi Janlok Party (Satya), plus two independents—withdrew their nominations. The contest is now set to be among seven candidates as Haryana goes to polls on October 5.
Jannayak Janata Party had fielded Balbir Singh, 42, a practising advocate, who completed his LLB from Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, in 2012. JJP had finished third in the Kalka assembly constituency in 2019 with 6.04% vote share. JJP was BJP’s coalition partner in Haryana for 53 months before the alliance ended in March this year.
Rashtrawadi Janlok Party (Satya) had nominated Charan Singh, 41, a teacher by profession. He also withdrew from the elections, along with two independent candidates —Geeta Devi, 35, and Preeti, 34, who has joined the BJP.
Incumbent MLA Pradeep Chaudhary, 63, is fighting to retain the seat for the Congress. Chaudhary had won in 2019 by defeating BJP candidate Latika Sharma by a margin of 5,931. He had secured 45.26% vote share, a 29.90% jump from the votes polled in 2014.
Aiming to reclaim the Kalka assembly constituency, the BJP is banking on Shakti Rani Sharma, 71, who with assets worth ₹144 crore, including those of her spouse, is among the top 10 richest candidates in fray in Haryana. Shakti is seeking votes with a promise to “develop” Kalka. She is the wife of former minister Venod Sharma, founder of the Haryana Jan Chetna Party, who had announced support to the BJP. Her younger son Kartikeya Sharma is Rajya Sabha MP from the state. Her eldest son, Manu Sharma, was convicted in the Jessica Lal murder case and released in June 2020.
Aiming to tap into votes from Gujjar community in its maiden fight in the constituency, AAP has picked retired police officer Om Prakash Gujjar, 61, for the Kalka assembly constituency, considered the stronghold of Chaudhary.
Bahujan Samaj Party, which got 2.01%vote share in 2019, registering a 5.87% drop from 2014, has fielded Charan Singh, 67, this time.
In Kalka, independent candidates Amit Sharma, Gopal and Vishal were allotted “bat”, “diamond” and “brick” as election symbols.