Haryana assembly elections: Congress senses opportunity in Badshapur

GURUGRAM: The omission of

PWD

minister and sitting MLA from

Badshapur

,

Rao Narbir Singh

, from BJP’s first list of candidates for the Haryana polls is being seen as a blessing by Congress, sources said.


Rao Narbir was on Monday replaced with Manish Yadav, the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), as the BJP candidate from the Yadav-dominated constituency. Congress, which is yet to name its candidates, is likely to field three-time MLA Rao Dharam Pal as he has a strong base here.

In 2014, Rao Narbir defeated Independent candidate Rakesh Daultabad by about 18,000 votes while Congress candidate Virender Singh, who is Rao Dharam Pal’s son, finished fourth. Some in the party felt that had Rao Dharam Pal contested instead, Congress might have fared better. Badshapur has the highest number of voters among all the nine assembly constituencies of Gurugram Lok Sabha seat. While it is dominated by Yadavs, there are other communities too, such as Gujjars, Jats, Punjabis and Brahmins.

Sources told TOI that while Manish Yadav has been working in the constituency for the past few years as a youth leader, his lack of reach in rural areas might be a cause for concern for BJP. A senior Congress leader, who did not wish to be named, said that fielding Rao Dharam Pal from Badshapur would be a good move. “Rao Dharam Pal’s connect with the masses and his experience is far more than that of Manish Yadav,” he said.