Naveen Jindal, The Billionaire Candidate Of BJP From Kurukshetra Lok Sabha Constituency (image@MPNaveenJindal)

The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Naveen Jindal, the business tycoon, from Haryana”s Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency. The billionaire industrialist was a Congress MP for two terms from Kurukshetra. It was only two months ago, Naveen has joined BJP.

In 2004 Lok Sabha election, Naveen won with a margin of 130,000 votes, and in 2009, he retained the seat. While serving as the MP, his major focus was on the problems of corruption, over-population, women”s empowerment, environment, health and education. He moved a private member bill in Lok Sabha for a comprehensive Food and Nutrition Security Scheme that paved the way for the Food Security Act.

Naveen Jindal is also known as the man who won the right to display the National Flag on all days of the year for all Indians. His strive for the right to hoist Indian flag started in 1992, when he hoisted it in his Raigarh factory. The then Commissioner of Bilaspur objected to it on the of Flag Code of India, as per which, a private citizen was not permitted to fly the Indian flag except on certain days. Jindal filed a petition before the High Court arguing that no law could forbid Indian citizens from flying the national flag and, furthermore, the Flag Code of India was only a set of executive instructions from the Government of India and therefore not law.

Naveen started to be recognised for his philanthropism during the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic. When hospitals in the country started to run out liquid medical oxygen supply, Naveen came forward by halting his steel industry”s production and divert their stock of liquid medical oxygen to hospitals.

Naveen Jindal is not spared of controversies. He faced allegations of involvement in the coal allocation scam in India, alongside ex-Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao and others. The CBI had alleged that ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, also accused in the case, had favoured Jindal group firms — Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Private Ltd (GSIPL) — in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand.

He was involved in the Electoral Bond Controversy also. The Jindal Group companies, including Jindal Steel and Power Ltd and Jindal Stainless Ltd, purchased electoral bonds worth ₹195.5 crore and were among the top 50 donors, as per the data by the Election Commission of India.