In a surprising turn of events, Naveen Jindal, former Congress MP and chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, has won the Kurukshetra seat on the BJP ticket beating his contenders in a vote poll of 542175 votes by a margin of 29021 in Lok Sabha Election 2024. Jindal’s return to the political arena after his absence in the 2019 elections added a major intrigue to this race.
The opposition, buoyed by perceived anti-incumbency and farmer sentiment, presented a diverse challenge. Sushil Gupta from AAP and Abhay Singh Chautala of INLD vied for support, raising concerns about vote division among farmers.
The Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) candidate, Pala Ram Saini, also impacted the BJP ’s vote bank, especially among the Saini community (OBC), which comprises roughly 8% of the constituency’s population.
Kurukshetra, a significant Lok Sabha constituency in Haryana, has undergone remarkable changes since its inception. Pre-1966, it was part of larger constituencies like Karnal and Ambala, eventually emerging as a distinct entity post-1976.