CHANDIGARH: Both BJP and Congress have formed teams to win back the rebels contesting as independent candidates, knowing even a small margin of votes could tilt the results to their disadvantage.
“Those close to the rebels have been asked to pursue them. We are hopeful that a majority of them will withdraw their nominations. Still, we are on a strong footing,” said former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Chief minister Nayab Singh Saini is also hopeful of convincing the rebels to withdraw. “Our teams are already out in the field. Most of them have agreed while the rest will also join the official candidates,” he said.
The last date for withdrawal of nominations is Sept 16. The elections are scheduled for Oct 5.
Sources said Congress is facing rebellion in around 35 seats. Among those who have rebelled include former chief parliamentary secretary Ram Kishan Fauji and party leaders Sharda Rathore, Lalit Nagar and Chitra Sarwara.
For the saffron party, it is learnt that around 50 rebels have filed their nomination papers against the party’s official candidates. Prominent faces include Gautam Sardana and Savitri Jindal in Hisar, Renu Gupta in Karnal, Rajiv Jain in Sonipat and Bharti Saini in Narnaul.
BJP had been facing rebellion since it released its first list of 67 candidates in the first week of Sept. The party had not only dumped senior leaders and former ministers like Ram Bilas Sharma, Karan Dev Kamboj and Kavita Jain but also sitting ministers as well incumbent MLAs.
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