Gurugram candidates optimistic as BJP releases first list for Haryana elections

Gurugram, September 4 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday released its first list of candidates for the October 5 assembly elections in Haryana, announcing its candidate lists for 67 of the 90 seats, including three constituencies in Gurugram district.

The party has denied nomination to three sitting MPs – Satya Prakash Jrawata from Pataudi, Kunwar Sanjay Singh from Sohna and Sudhir Singla from Gurgaon.

The BJP has nominated former minister Rao Narbir Singh for Badshahpur constituency, Mukesh Sharma for Gurgaon and former MP Tejpal Tanwar for Sohna. The nomination of Pataudi (SC reserve) is yet to be decided.

Meanwhile, the Congress has not yet announced its list for the upcoming Haryana Legislative Assembly elections.

BJP candidate from Gurgaon constituency Mukesh Sharma is currently the state president of Sports Cell BJP Haryana.

Sharma had unsuccessfully contested a parliamentary election for his Badshahpur seat in 2009. He also ran as an independent candidate in 2014 and lost. In the 2019 parliamentary elections, he supported Manish Yadav of the BJP, who also lost the election to an independent candidate, Rakesh Daultabad.

Daultabad unfortunately died of a heart attack in early July.

“I am very thankful to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and the party leaders for reposing faith in me. At this point, I would like to assure the party that I will win the Gurgaon seat with a huge margin. As the party's morale is high, we will put all our efforts to win the upcoming elections,” Sharma told IANS.

He added that Gurgaon constituency is an urban administrative headquarters and providing better amenities like water, electricity, transport and more are his top priorities.

Meanwhile, the party has nominated former minister Rao Narbir Singh for the Badshahpur constituency.

Rao successfully contested the assembly elections from Jatusana (Haryana) in 1987 and Sohna (Haryana) in 1996. Earlier, he served as Home Minister in the Haryana government in 1987 and as Minister for Transport, Food, Supplies and Cooperation in 1996.

At the age of 26, he was the youngest elected representative in the country to hold the office of Home Minister. In 1996, he also took over the office of Sports Minister and Minister of Printing and Stationery. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in Gurgaon.

Narbir had won the 2014 general election as a BJP candidate but could not secure a ticket in the 2019 elections.

Singh's family had entered politics during the British era. His great-grandfather, Rao Ramji Lal, was the Chief Minister of Nalagarh Estate in the British government. Singh's father, Rao Mohar Singh, had won the Assembly elections in 1966 from Sohna, 1968 from Gurugram and 1972 from Gurugram.

“Badshahpur constituency is a mix of urban and rural constituencies and I have visited several villages of Badshahpur constituency along with my party workers. I feel that the youth of the constituency need jobs, Aravalli range needs to be cultivated and infrastructure needs to be better for the villagers and development sectors. Education and public health need to be improved,” said Rao Narbir Singh.

Tejpal Tanwar was a BJP MP from Sohna constituency in Haryana in 2014.

Tawar was a farmer who had worked for a leading tyre company for 22 years. He also became a trade union leader and joined the Jan Sangh and later the BJP.

He was appointed as the BJP's Gurgaon president three times. After unsuccessfully contesting the assembly elections from Sohna in 1991 and 2009, he finally became an MP in 2014.