Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) candidate Abhay Singh Chautala on Tuesday won Haryana's Ellenabad assembly by-election defeating his nearest rival, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Gobind Kanda by a margin of over 6,700 votes.
The victory was crucial for Chautala and the INLD as he is the the lone party MLA in the 90-member Haryana assembly. Ellenabad, a traditional stronghold for the Chautala family, voted for the INLD leader, marking his fourth win from here and fifth electoral win in an assembly poll.
Chautala had earlier resigned from the state legislative assembly over the three farm laws. After his victory, Chautala said the win belonged to the farmers. “This is not my victory. It is a win of the farmers and people of Ellenabad,” he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Chautala said the BJP and Congress had colluded to defeat him. “My margin was going to be very big. I would have won by over 50,000 votes had the BJP-JJP not indulged in horse-trading and had the Congress not colluded with them. Money power was used to lure voters, the official machinery was misused. We made 15 complaints to the Election Commission, but we did not get any response,” Chautala said.
Haryana minister Anil Vij said Chautala’s win was not a reflection of people’s rejection of the central farm laws. “The issue on which he resigned from the Assembly has been completely negated by the people of Ellenabad. If that issue was so strong, then his victory margin would have increased. The fact that his margin this time has reduced only proves that people have rejected the issue for which he resigned,” Vij said.
{{/usCountry}}Haryana minister Anil Vij said Chautala’s win was not a reflection of people’s rejection of the central farm laws. “The issue on which he resigned from the Assembly has been completely negated by the people of Ellenabad. If that issue was so strong, then his victory margin would have increased. The fact that his margin this time has reduced only proves that people have rejected the issue for which he resigned,” Vij said.
{{/usCountry}}Chautala polled a total of 65,992 votes, BJP’s Kanda who came in second secured 59,253 votes, while Congress’ Beniwal got 20,904 votes.