Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Singh Chautala won the bypoll for the Ellenabad Assembly constituency in Haryana’ Sirsa district, defeating his nearest rival Gobind Kanda of the Bharatiya Janata Party by a margin of 6,708 votes.
The bypoll was necessitated after Chautala in January resigned as the MLA from the seat in protest against the Centre’s contentious farm laws. “It’s a win for the farmers. The Congress and the BJP are hand in glove in the bypoll.
The ruling party misused government machinery and we submitted nearly 15 complaints to the Election Commission but the EC did not take cognizance of
our complaints,” Abhay Singh Chautala said.
“I will go to the Tikri border and Singhu border to express solidarity with the farmers sitting on the dharna in support of their demand for withdrawal of three farm laws,” he added.
The INLD leader said he is ready to resign again if his supporters ask me to do so in support of farmers’ agitation. He demanded a fair inquiry into the misuse of government machinery and money power in the bypoll.
Congress candidate Pawan Beniwal lost his security deposit in the bypoll. While there were 19 candidates in the fray, most of them Independents, the main contest eventually turned out to be between Chautala and Kanda. Gobind Kanda, the brother of Haryana Lokhit Party chief and MLA Gopal Kanda, joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last month.
Gopal Kanda, the MLA from Sirsa, has extended support to the BJP-JJP government in Haryana. Beniwal, who had unsuccessfully contested the previous Assembly polls against Chautala, recently switched over from the BJP to the Congress.