Garhi Sampla-Kiloi Constituency: The Bastion Of Hooda Family (image-facebook/Bhupinder Singh Hooda, instagram/official_manju_hooda)
Garhi Sampla-Kiloi is one of the 90 assembly constituencies of Haryana. The seat had always remained a Congress bastion with former chief minister and Congress stalwart Bhupinder Singh Hooda representing the assembly constituency for the past five consecutive elections.
This time, the Congress leader will face BJP’s Manju Hooda, Rohtak Zila Parishad sitting chairperson Sushila Devi of the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), and Krishan of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Pravin Guskani as its candidate in the constituency.
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Although the Congress has made it clear that, its MLAs and the high command will pick the chief minister if the party wins the election, Jat stalwart Hooda is virtually the face of the Congress for the upcoming Assembly polls.
The Garhi Sampla- Kiloi assembly segment, a Jat-dominated rural constituency in Rohtak from where the former chief minister is seeking re-election, came into being in 2007, following the delimitation of constituencies.
Before the delimitation, the seat known as ‘Kiloi’ was considered as the bastion of the Hooda family.
In 2005, when the Congress party returned to power by winning 67 seats, the party’s high command handpicked Hooda, who was then Rohtak MP to be the chief minister of the state.
Hooda, two-time chief minister of Haryana, has registered four consecutive victories from the constituency in the 2005 by-poll, 2009, 2014 and 2019. He had also won the seat in 2000. And it seems that the ongoing assembly election is just a cakewalk for the veteran Jat leader and his campaign in the constituency was led by his workers.
All the MLAs from the constituency belong to the Jat community, which constitutes around 55% of voters. There are 2.20 lakh total voters, including 1.17 lakh male and 1.02 lakh female voters, in the constituent assembly.
Meanwhile, the BJP candidate Manju Hooda is the daughter of retired deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Pradeep Yadav. Her husband Rajesh Hooda, is known as a history-sheeter and out of jail. However, the BJP leader faced internal bickering as the party ignored senior leaders like Satish Nanada and former MLA Krishan Murti Hooda. The other candidates in the fray have no strength on the ground.
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Manju Hooda is the sitting chairperson of the Rohtak Zila Parishad. Asserting that she has the people’s support despite a strong political background, Manju hopes that winning the Garhi Sampla-Kiloi seat, currently held by the Congress strongman, will not be a challenge for her.
The result for Garhi Sampla-Kiloi will be declared on October 8 along with other 89 constituencies in Haryana.
