New Delhi (India), September 30 : The BJP on Monday fielded three high-profile sportspersons in Haryana Assembly elections, who made the country proud with their achievements, from the seats the party has never won and which are apparently perceived tough ones.
Olympic medalist Yogeshwar Dutt, Commonwealth gold medalist Babita Phogat and former Indian Hockey captain Sandeep Singh, the newly inducted sportspersons in BJP will contest from Baroda, Dadri, and Pehowa Assembly constituencies.
Wrestler Dutt and Singh joined the BJP last week while Phogat along with her father Mahavir Phogat joined the party in August.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today released a list of 78 candidates for the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will contest from Karnal while state BJP chief Subhash Barala will fight from Tohana.
Baroda, Dadri, and Pehowa are among the Jat-dominated Assembly segments of the state, which the BJP has never been able to win ever since the inception of the state. The BJP candidates were in runners-up position in 2014 Assembly elections in Dadri and Pehowa. The party has never been in a competitive position in Baroda.
Baroda assembly constituency, a part of Sonipat parliamentary constituency, was a citadel of INLD and the party never lost any election here from 1977 to 2005. In 2009, the Congress snatched the seat after INLD leader Krishan Hooda joined the grand old party.
It was a reserved seat before 2008 delimitation. Dominated by Jat community followed by Brahmins and Dalits, was won by Hooda in 2009 and 2014 Assembly elections. In both the elections he defeated Kapoor Singh Narwal of INLD.
Dutt, who hails from Bhainswal Kalan in Sonipat district but his political debut is not going to be easy seeing the track record of the BJP in Baroda constituency.
Singh, the former captain of the Indian national hockey team, is also going to face a tough electoral battle in Pehowa.
Pehowa, dominated by Jat Sikhs, is a significant religious place and has been almost always represented either by the Congress or the INLD.
In 2014, Jaswinder Singh Sandhu of INLD defeated Jai Bhagwan Sharma of BJP. In 2009 elections, Hormohinder Singh Chattha of Congress had defeated Sandhu.
Dadri, where the BJP has fielded Babita Phogat, was earlier part of Bhiw district, now falls in Charkhi Dadri district, which was created in 2016.
The assembly constituency, a part of Bhiw-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha constituency, was won by INLD's Rajdeep Phogat in 2014. He has now joined the INLD's splinter outfit JJP. Rajdeep played from Haryana in Ranji trophy matches from 1991 till 1995.
In Haryana, the main contest is between BJP, Congress, INLD, and JJP. In 2014, the BJP had come to power in Haryana for the first time while contesting on its own strength. The INLD was restricted to just 15 seats. Manohar Lal Khattar was later appointed as the Chief Minister of the state. Before 2014, the BJP's performance in Haryana has not been inspiring. It only did well when it struck alliances with state parties.
The ruling BJP has set a target of winning 75 plus seats and so roped in the three sportspersons in an attempt to wrest these seats from the Congress and INLD.
( With inputs from ANI )