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Haryana Election Results: Congress' Surender Panwar loses to BJP's Nikhil Madaan in Sonipat by a margin of 29627 votes
Congress leader Surender Panwar lost to BJP's Nikhil Madaan in Sonipat. He had defeated BJP's Kavita Jain by a margin of 32,878 votes in 2019.
Surender Panwar, a Congress leader who recently made headlines on being probed in an illegal mining case, was hoping to put recent setbacks behind them and register a thumping win from the Sonipat seat in the Haryana assembly elections. He was up against BJP's Nikhil Madaan. According to Election Commission of India, Surender Panwar lost to Nikhil Madaan by a margin of 29627 votes. (Also read: Election results: BJP comes back from behind to take lead in Haryana, show trends)
Born on July 4, 1966, in Karnal district, the Congress leader completed his schooling in Bhopal, but did not study further.
Surender Panwar's political career
In the 2019 assembly elections, Panwar won from Sonipat on a Congress ticket. He polled 79,438 votes and defeated his nearest rival, Kavita Jain of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), by a margin of 32,878 votes.
The Congress leader was in the news for the wrong reasons in July this year when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized over 100 acres of agricultural land and assets worth ₹122 crore belonging to Panwar and some other individuals. All these assets have been attached under the anti-money laundering law in an alleged illegal mining case.
The agency had also arrested the Sonipat candidate, but he was released after the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted him relief in August based on a petition he filed challenging his arrest.
Through the petition, Surender Panwar had sought to declare his arrest by the ED was illegal and the same has been allowed. Panwar's plea, where he also alleged that the arrest was politically motivated, was allowed by the bench of Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu.
All about the Sonipat constituency
Sonipat district is one of the 90 assembly constituencies in the Northern state of Haryana. Presently represented by Congress's Surender Panwar, who won the seat by defeating Kavita Jain of the Bharative Janata Party, Sonipat is the administrative headquarters of the district.
It is also a parliamentary constituency in Haryana.
Sonipat was designated as a fully developed district in 1972 and is well-connected by major highways, including the Delhi Western Peripheral Expressway, Eastern Peripheral Expressway (NEIl), and Grand Trunk Road (NH 44).
Sonipat also falls under the Delhi-Sonipat-Panipat Regional Rapid Transit System.
As per the 2011 Census, the total population of Sonipat city is 289,333. The average literacy rate in Sonipat city is 85.48%, with male literacy at 90.82% and female literacy at 79.45%.
Voting in Haryana was held on October 5, while results will be declared on October 8. The stage is set for a thrilling electoral battle in Haryana, with multiple players vying for power.
Congress vs BJP in Haryana
While the Congress is the main challenger to the BJP in the assembly polls, the other outfits and the Aam Aadmi Party make it a multi-cornered contest.
The split in the Jat vote among parties like the INLD and the JJP may not work to the Congress's advantage.
In 2014, the BJP came to power in Haryana on its own. However, in the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP fell short of a clear majority, prompting an alliance with Dushyant Chautala's Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) to form the government.
