Haryana Assembly poll results: Most BJP rebels, who fought as independents, lose
Those who were expelled include former minister Ranjit Chautala and Sandeep Garg, who filed a nomination to contest against Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.
Days before the Haryana assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expelled several leaders. The party dubbed the leaders as 'rebels' and expelled them for six years after they filed nominations as Independents, contesting against leaders of the BJP including Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.
Those who were expelled include Ranjit Chautala, who resigned as a minister after being denied a ticket, Sandeep Garg, who filed a nomination to contest against Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini from Ladwa, Zile Ram Sharma, Bachan Singh Arya, Radha Ahlawat, Naveen Goyal and Kehar Singh Rawat.
Here's how the BJP rebels are performing on the counting day:-
Also read: J&K election results 2024: 18 contests to watch on counting day
Ranjit Singh Chautala (lost)
Ranjit Singh Chautala, the Power and Jails minister in the Nayab Singh Saini government was denied a ticket from the Rania seat after the saffron party decided to nominate Shishpal Kambhoj. Soon after the party's announcement, Chautala declared that he would contest the polls from Rania only, either as an Independent candidate or from another party.
"I will contest as an independent candidate from the Rania Assembly constituency. It is the decision of the people of my constituency. After I did not get the ticket, I took this decision," he later declared.
According to the ECI, both Ranjit Chautala lost the seat to the Indian National Lok Dal Arjun Chautala.
Sandeep Garg (lost)
Former BJP leader Sandeep Garg was expelled from the saffron camp after he filed nomination papers from the Ladwa constituency against his party leader and Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. He contested the 2024 assembly election as an Independent candidate and lost the seat to the incumbent chief minister
Zile Ram Sharma (lost)
Upset over the denial of ticket, former Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Zile Ram Sharma filed for nomination for the assembly polls as an independent candidate leading to his expulsion from the BJP for six years. The BJP instead fielded party district president Yogendra Rana from the Assandh seat in Karnal district, who won the seat.
Also read: Haryana Assembly election results: Key constituencies to look out for
Bachan Singh Arya (lost)
Former Haryana minister and BJP rebel Bachan Singh Arya resigned from the party and filed his nomination as an Independent from Safidon ahead of the Haryana assembly polls. He submitted his resignation letter to state chief Mohan Lal Badoli and was later expelled by the party. He lost the seat to BJP's Ram Kumar Gautam.
Assembly Election Results 2024 LIVE: Stage set for counting of votes in Haryana, J&K
Naveen Goyal (lost)
Naveen Goyal, the former BJP State Convenor for the Trade Cell, resigned after being denied a ticket and filed a nomination to contest the 2024 Haryana assembly election from the Gurgaon seat as an Independent. He is lost the seat to BJP's Mukesh Sharma, who won by over 68,000 votes.
Radha Ahlawat (lost)
Radha Ahlawat was expelled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after she resigned from the party and filed a nomination against the party candidate as an Independent from the Meham seat. She lost the seat to Congress's Balram Dangi.
Kehar Singh Rawat (lost)
Kehar Singh Rawat, who was was expelled from the BJP after he filed a nomination from the Hathin assembly seat against the party candidate, lost the seat to Congress's Mohd Israil. He was upset over the denial of a poll ticket. He recently made headlines after his supporters were attacked during a poll campaign. He later said the attackers were BJP-backed goons.
Devender Kadyan (won)
Independent candidate Devender Kadyan won the seat by over 35,000 votes in Ganaur seat. A former BJP leader, he is pitted against ruling party's Devender Kaushik and Congress candidate Kuldeep Sharma.