Notwithstanding a revolt from its senior leaders, Indian National lok Dal (INlD) has fielded fresh faces in all four assembly segments of Jhajjar district which is considered a stronghold of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
The INlD has fielded Teja Pahalwan from Bahadurgarh, Sadhu Ram Jhamri from Jhajjar (reserve), Sumitra Gulia from Badli and Santosh Dahiya from Beri Assembly segments for the Assembly polls.
All of them are new entrants to the election battlefield and would time try their luck for the first time in the assembly polls. Moreover, to woo the women electors, the party has also ensured equal participation in the ticket allotment by granting two women the party tickets from here.
Among them, Teja Pahalwan and Santosh Dahiya have surprised everybody by bagging the INlD tickets as their names were even not in the list of ticket aspirants but their selection as the party nominees may take a toll on the party senior leaders who were lobbying hard for a long time to get the ticket.
Two-time MlA Om Prakash Beri and former Minister Kanta Devi have already quit the INlD after being denied the party ticket from Beri and Jhajjar assembly segment respectively.
Allotment of party ticket to Teja Pehalwan has sent a wave of anger and resentment among the supporters of two-time INlD MlA Nafe Singh Rathi who has been carrying out public-contact programme for last some month in the hope of getting the party ticket.
INlD sources said decision of making Teja Pahalwan as party nominee had been taken to end the factionalism among the party leaders over the ticket issue. Moreover, Teja belongs to Dalal gotra which plays a vital role in the assembly polls due to dominance of people of this gotra in several villages of Bahadurgarh assembly segment.
Besides, Sadhu Ram Jhamri is the district chief of INlD’s SC cell and has been a member of zila parishad while Sumitra Gulia is the wife of former minister late Dheerpal Singh who was elected as MlA five times consecutively from Badli segment.