In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the number of independents reduced from seven to three in 2019
From seven in 2019 to three in the 90-member Assembly of Haryana, independents are down. Still, they have become very famous as spoilers.
The election, which was essentially a bipolar struggle, was not much affected by the Aam Aadmi Party.
The three Independents who prevailed were Congress rebel Rajesh Joon from Bahadurgarh, BJP rebel Devender Kadyan from Ganaur and Savitri Jindal from Hisar. Former Congress minister Jindal is mother of BJP legislator Naveen Jindal.
With their vote counts greater than the margin of victory, AAP candidates made a difference in the urban seats of Panchkula and Rohtak. The Congress won both these seats with the AAP in third place in both and the BJP runner-up.
After a failed attempt at an alliance with the Congress, the AAP ran alone this time, having fought in tandem with the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) the prior time. Of the votes cast, the AAP garnered 1.79 percent.
In seven constituencies—including the seats of BJP ministers Anil Vij and Moolchand Sharma—independents placed runner-up. Congress rebel came second in both of these seats.
Smaller parties finished second in two seats the Congress won— Meham and Sirsa. In Meham, incumbent MLA Balraj Kundu of the Haryana Jan Sevak Party runner-up; controversial former minister Gopal Kanda of the Haryana Lokhit Party placed second in Sirsa.
In a number of important seats like the VIP seats of Hodal, Tosham, and Uchana Kalan, independents had a major influence on the outcome.
Just 2,595 votes in Hodal let the BJP’s Harinder Singh defeat State Congress President Udai Bhan. AAP renegade and former BJP leader Naveen Rohilla obtained 2,077 votes here as an Independent.
On tickets for BJP and Congress respectively, former chief minister Bansi Lal’s grandkids Shruti Choudhry and Anirudh Chaudhary squared off in Tosham.
With 14,257 votes, the BJP prevailed; third place went to Independent BJP dissident Shahsi Ranjan Parmar with 15,859 votes.
With 7,950 votes, former Deputy Chief Minister and departing JJP member Dushyant Chautala placed fifth in Uchana Kalan. Just 32 votes separated the BJP’s Devender Attri from the great-grandson of Jat legend Sir Chhotu Ram, Brijendra Singh.
With 31,456 votes, Congress rebel Virender Ghogharian defeated fellow Independent and Uchana municipal chairman Vikas 13,458 votes.
