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Hot seat: Karnal: In Khattar’s bastion, Congress, BJP locked in head-to-head contest
This year, the electioneering in Karnal is seemingly low-key and more of a bipolar contest between the Congress, which has fielded former two-time MLA from the seat, Sumita Singh, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from which Manohar Lal Khattar’s former media coordinator Jagmohan Anand is in the fray.
This year, the electioneering in Karnal is seemingly low-key and more of a bipolar contest between the Congress, which has fielded former two-time MLA from the seat, Sumita Singh, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from which Manohar Lal Khattar’s former media coordinator Jagmohan Anand is in the fray.
In the last 10 years, Karnal elected two BJP MLAs as chief ministers thrice, Khattar (2014-2019, 2019-2024) and Nayab Singh Saini (June 2024) in a one-sided contest.
However, what both parties are talking about is that Karnal voters will be electing a local candidate this time unlike the last two terms when “outsiders” were chosen.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s state treasurer Sunil Bindal, Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)’s Jetender Royal and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD)’s Surjeet Singh are also testing the waters.
In total, 14 candidates will contest the assembly elections from the seat, polling for which will be held on October 5.
In 2019, Khattar, now an MP from the seat and a Union minister, was elected an MLA for the second time and won by a margin of 45,188 votes while securing 65% of the votes polled and Congress’ Tarlochan Singh managed to gain 28% votes (34,718).
Recently, Karnal also voted for its MLA along with Lok Sabha polls in May when the bypoll was necessitated after Khattar’s resignation the day the newly formed government under Saini passed a floor test on March 13.
The election this time on this Punjabi-dominated seat is not going to be easy for the BJP. Two-term anti-incumbency of Khattar, who was abruptly removed as the CM in March, and anguished Punjabi community could dent the electoral prospects on this seat in the GT belt considered a stronghold of the saffron party.
The infighting for which the Congress has always been accused of was clearly visible in the BJP following the ticket allocation earlier this month.
BJP’s Anand, also a former district president, had to first pacify other ticket aspirants and old guards before hitting off the ground for campaigning.
Party leaders accept that initially his biggest challenger was not the Congress or Sumita, but a leader from within the party, Renu Bala Gupta. A two-time former mayor of the Karnal Municipal Corporation was among the top three ticket contenders but was denied the same.
After a series of meetings and deliberations by the top brass, including Saini and Khattar, followed by a “show of unity” by the Gupta clan, she finally decided to support Anand and ultimately her husband Brij Gupta was appointed district working president.
At a public meeting in Ram Nagar area of the town, Anand showed confidence that the BJP will score a hat-trick, and the party will return to power again under Saini. His wife, Rekha Anand is also actively canvassing, particularly targeting the women voters.
Highlighting the achievements of the governments under Khattar and Saini, the party is intentionally not making personal attacks on the rival Congress candidate.
Soon after getting the ticket, Sumita, who is close to the Hoodas, managed to take along all the Congress leaders, old and new and was bolstered with the return of former minister and local MLA Jai Prakash Gupta and former chairperson of Municipal Council, Balwinder Kalra into the party fold.
It did not stop here. Several BJP councillors and their representatives also joined the queue. Among them, Yudhvir Singh alias Mittu Saini, who is close to Saini, also joined the party and assured maximum support.
The opposition party is banking heavily on local issues and projecting Sumita as the next minister for being an able administrator as former legislator twice and chairperson of erstwhile Karnal Municipal Council (now corporation).
During a corner meeting at Parsvnath City township, she compared the tenure of former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda when she was the MLA with that of Khattar and Saini put together.
Speaking to HT on the sidelines of the programme, she said, “What did they bring for Karnal? Tell me if an industry was set up or a big university. They even changed the name of the one which is still under construction for many years that we dedicated to Kalpana Chawla. The hospital project that we brought for Karnal and was named after Chawla is now just a “referral centre”.
“Look at the condition of roads. The Smart City projects have fallen flat. Our youths are migrating and a few, who take illegal routes, are even unable to reach their foreign destinations. There are no jobs here. They have failed,” she added.
From Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Sunil Bindal, a businessman and social activist, is going door-to-door to secure votes, while JJP and INLD leaders are working hard to leave a mark.
Issues like migration, health, poor roads and law and order are the highlights of the election campaign in the region.
