Lok Sabha polls to be acid test for HJC

For the Haryana Janhit Congress,the Lok Sabha elections are very crucial,linked as they are to its very survival.

For the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC BL),the Lok Sabha elections are very crucial,linked as they are to its very survival. Although the party had participated in the by-elections for three seats in Haryana last year,the real test of its strength will be seen during the Parliamentary elections.

If under the leadership of ageing leader and former chief minister Bhajan Lal and his son Kuldeep Bishnoi,the party manages to do well in the Lok Sabha elections,its poll prospects will brighten in the Assembly elections scheduled next year. On the other hand,a poor performance could as well prove to be the death knell for the party.

No wonder HJC is being very cautious in the choice of its candidates for the Lok Sabha poll. So far,the party has declared just three candidates. These are Krishnamurti Hooda from Rohtak,Chander Bhatia from Faridabad and Rao Narbir Singh from Gurgaon.

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Today,the screening committee of the party discussed names of the probable candidates for the rest of the seven seats in the state. Sources say HJC has deliberately delayed declaring candidates,weighing all the rebel candidates from other parties who could be inducted into its fold.

HJC spokesman Satpal Kaushik said the names of the remaining seven candidates of the party were likely to be declared tomorrow. Some of the names in the running for the Karnal seat are those of Zile Ram Sharma,Rakesh Kamboj,Sarvadanand Arya and Mahesh Chabra. For the Kurukshetra seat,the names of Devender Sharma,Sudhir Mohanand Nawab Singh Sidhu have been in the forefront. From Ambala,the names of Rupchand Sadhaura,Lahri Singh and Ranbir Bhumbak have been in the running.

Maniram Keharwala is the party’s leading candidate from the Sirsa reserved constituency. Umesh Sharma and Jai Bhagwan Sharma are said to be in the running for the Sonepat seat. Aiming to attract the non-Jat votes,the HJC even tried unsuccessfully for a tie-up with the BSP.

The HJC’s best chances in the present parliamentary polls are seen in the Hisar constituency where veteran leader Bhajan Lal is likely to contest. Kuldeep Bishnoi is likely to try his hand from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh constituency again. In the 2004 Parliamentary elections Kuldeep Bishnoi had handsomely beaten major candidates like Ajay Singh Chautala,Surender Singh etc. to emerge the winner.

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However,he grew differences with the Congress when Bhupinder Singh Hooda was made the chief minister,and not his father Bhajan Lal. Both Kuldeep Bishnoi and Bhajan Lal lost their seats in the Parliament and the state asembly because of this rebel factor. Later they formed a new party – the Haryana Janhit Congress.

The HJC won one seat out of three,that of Adampur,in the last year’s by-elections where Bhajan Lal was the party’s candidate. The party did put up a good show in the Indri by-poll too,but lost to the Congress. The party also lost the Gohana seat held by Bhajan Lal suppoter Dharampal Malik.

Sources say HJC is not just aiming to win seats in the present poll,but also get more than six per cent of the total votes polled in the state so that it gets approval of the Election Commission as a recognised party. “We are very confident of proving ourselves in the Lok Sabha polls. People of the state are fed up of the Congress government’s misrule. They are itching for a change.

The HJC will provide them this much needed change,” said Kuldeep Bishnoi,while talking to The Indian Express.

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