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Chandigarh: Adding intrigue to the forthcoming Rajya Sabha election from Haryana, both the Congress and the BJP on Thursday fielded their candidates, setting the stage for a potential contest if the ruling party persists with a third nominee.
Congress candidate Karamvir Singh Baudh filed his nomination papers in the presence of party MLAs, Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Earlier in the day, Hooda hosted a breakfast meeting at his residence to introduce Baudh to Congress legislators and ensure unity within the party ranks.
Speaking to reporters, Baudh said he was unfazed by reports that the Bharatiya Janata Party might field a third candidate. Thanking Rahul Gandhi for selecting a grassroots worker like him, he described Gandhi as a “Jannayak” and said the nomination reflected the party’s commitment to ordinary workers. Recalling the legacy of B. R. Ambedkar, Baudh said Ambedkar’s rise was made possible by the social empowerment he championed.
Known for mobilising Dalit organisations after the suicide of Dalit IPS officer Y. Puran Kumar, Baudh asserted that all Congress MLAs were united and ruled out any possibility of cross-voting.
Meanwhile, adding colour to the contest, the BJP’s Haryana vice-president Satish Nandal, a construction businessman, filed his nomination as the party’s third candidate after a day of deliberations within the ruling party. Nandal, a Jat leader from the Garhi-Sampla-Kiloi Assembly segment in Rohtak district—represented by Hooda—is considered a long-time political rival of the former Chief Minister. He unsuccessfully contested against Hooda from the constituency in the 2009 and 2014 Assembly elections as an INLD candidate and again in 2019 as a BJP nominee.
A former leader of the Indian National Lok Dal, Nandal, later joined the BJP and has since been active in Rohtak politics. He is considered close to former minister Manish Grover, an ally of former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. The election to the Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana is scheduled for March 16.
