News Haryana Haryana Poll Results: HLP chief Gopal Kanda loses Sirsa seat to Congress leader by over 7,000 votes

Haryana Poll Results: HLP chief Gopal Kanda loses Sirsa seat to Congress leader by over 7,000 votes

With the BJP choosing not to contest from Sirsa, the seat had become a direct contest between the Congress and Gopal Kanda's HLP, which had been supporting the NDA in Haryana for the last five years.

HLP chief Gopal Kanda loses Sirsa seat Image Source : PTI Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) Gopal Kanda.

Haryana Election Results: Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) and incumbent MLA Gopal Kanda lost the Sirsa Assembly seat by a margin of 7,234 votes on Tuesday, as per the Election Commission. He lost to his rival and Congress candidate Gokul Setia, Kanda was polled a total of 71,786 votes, while Setia got 79,020 votes. Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader Pawan Sherpura stood third with a total of 77,258 votes. 

Sirsa was the only constituency in the 90-seat Haryana assembly where the ruling BJP did not field its candidate. Congress had alleged that it was been done to offer indirect support to Kanda. The INLD, which contested the elections against the BJP and Congress in the state, also did not field any candidate from the seat and extended its support to Kanda. Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) senior leader Abhay Singh Chautala had even campaigned for Kanda in the constituency.

On September 16, BJP's Sirsa candidate Rohtash Jangra withdrew his nomination for the seat, which was seen as a move to avoid a split of anti-Congress votes by extending tacit support to Kanda from the seat. Meanwhile, Congress had fielded 36-year-old Gokul Setia, who had contested as an Independent against Kanda in the 2019 assembly elections and lost by 602 votes.

About Sirsa Assembly constituency

The Sirsa Assembly constituency, one of the 90 constituencies in the Haryana Assembly, is a General seat not reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, and the Haryana Lokhit Party are the main parties in the constituency. The Haryana Lokhit Party's  Kanda won the Sirsa constituency in 2019. In 2014, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) candidate Makhan Lal Singla won the seat. In the 2009, Haryana Assembly elections, Kanda registered victory in the constituency as an Independent candidate. In 2005 and 2000, Congress candidate Lachhman Dass Arora won the constituency. 

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