Campaigning ends for high-stakes Adampur assembly bypoll in Haryana

Chandigarh: The campaigning for the high-stakes Adampur Assembly bypoll in Haryana's Hisar district, in which former chief minister Bhajan Lal's grandson is among those in the fray, came to an end on Tuesday evening.

The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are among the key parties contesting the bypoll, which will be held on November 3.

On the last day of campaigning, which came to an end at 6 pm, parties made their last ditch attempt to woo voters. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a rally in the constituency which was addressed by a galaxy of state unit leaders including Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

The rally was also addressed by BJP's ally Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), whose leader Dushyant Chautala sought votes for the alliance candidate.

Congress leaders, including Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state unit chief Udai Bhan, held a series of poll meetings on the last day of campaigning. The AAP took out a roadshow, while the INLD also held a poll rally.

The bypoll was necessitated after Kuldeep Bishnoi, the younger son of former chief minister Bhajan Lal, resigned as MLA from the seat and switched sides from the Congress to the BJP in August.

Bishnoi's son Bhavya, who is contesting the bypoll as the BJP candidate, had also quit the Congress and joined the BJP.

A total of 22 candidates, all men, are in the fray.

Polling will take place from 7 am to 6 pm on Thursday, in which nearly 1.71 lakh voters are eligible to cast their vote, and the counting of votes will be taken up on November 6.

The Congress has fielded former Union minister Jai Prakash, who has been a three time MP from Hisar earlier and a two-time MLA as well.

The INLD picked up Congress rebel Kurda Ram Nambardar as its candidate. The AAP has fielded Satender Singh, who switched over from the BJP after having earlier remained with the Congress as well.

Kuldeep Bishnoi had defeated late Sonali Phogat, who had contested on a BJP ticket from Adampur in the 2019 state assembly elections.

The Adampur seat has always been held by the Bhajan Lal family.

For the BJP, in addition to CM Khattar, many ministers including Anil Vij, Kamal Gupta, J P Dalal, Kanwar Pal, several party MLAs and MPs from the state campaigned for their party candidate.

Khattar on Tuesday appealed to voters in Adampur to make Bhavya victorious with a big margin.

He also made a mention of the year 2005, when the Congress had won 67 seats in the 90-member assembly under Bhajan Lal's leadership, but he was edged out of the chief ministerial race by Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Khattar told the people of Adampur that they now have the opportunity to "settle scores" in the bypolls for the "betrayal".

He assured them no stone will be left unturned to ensure Adampur's development.

During campaigning, the BJP leaders sought votes on the basis of equitable development it has carried out in the state and ensured that jobs are given purely on merit and steps it took to weed out corruption and bring transparency in governance by laying thrust on digitalization of various services.

The BJP and JJP leaders targeted the Congress dubbing it as a sinking ship and also took potshots at the grand old party over "factionalism" in the state unit, claiming that senior leaders like Kumari Selja, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Kiran Choudhary stayed away from campaigning in Adampur as only father-son duo Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Deepender Singh Hooda were calling the shots.

On the other hand, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said government in Haryana has failed on all fronts and the countdown to its defeat will start from the Adampur assembly by-election with the victory of the Congress.

The Manohar Lal Khattar-led government has failed on all fronts and today unemployment and inflation are at their peak and crime, corruption and drug menace have increased, Hooda alleged.

Hooda termed Adampur a stronghold of the Congress and said the late Bhajan Lal was chief minister from the Congress.

For the Aam Aadmi Party, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also campaigned in Adampur.

Mann claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party does not indulge in politics of hate but talks of development and building schools and hospitals.

AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had launched the party's nationwide  Make India No. 1  campaign from Hisar last month.

Former chief minister and INLD president Om Prakash Chautala and party's senior leader Abhay Singh Chautala also campaigned for Nambardar in Adampur.