The Congress party on Wednesday declared former minister Jai Prakash as a party candidate for the ensuing Adampur by-election. The list of star campaigners for him includes names across all factions — former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and son Deepender Hooda, former Union Minister Kumari Selja, former Minister Randeep Surjewala, Udai Bhan, Ajay Singh Yadav, and Kiran Choudhry.
Adampur seat fell vacant after prominent Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi quit the party, and switched loyalties towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). His 27-year-old son Bhavya Bishnoi is in the electoral fray as BJP candidate, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is laying its bet on 45-year-old Satender Singh.
A native of Dubbal village in Kaithal, Jai Prakash has represented Hisar Lok Sabha seat thrice – 2004-2009, 1996-1998, and 1989-1991 – each time for a different party. The Adampur seat falls under Hisar. Having begun his career with INLD founder Devi Lal in the 1980s, Jai Prakash won in 1989 on a Janata Dal ticket, then as a nominee of the Haryana Vikas Party founded by Bansi Lal in 1996, and in 2004, on a Congress ticket. When he won in 1990, he was inducted as a Union minister of state in then Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar’s government.
In 2009, Jai Prakash lost both the polls he contested – the Assembly contest for Adampur, and the Lok Sabha one for Hisar. In 2011, he lost the bypoll held to the Hisar Lok Sabha seat. In 2014, contesting as an Independent, he won from Kalayat Assembly constituency, but in 2019, he failed to retain it.
After his name was announced as the Adampur candidate, Jai Prakash expressed confidence that he would win. “I shall contest the polls with all my strength and with the full support of my party workers and leadership,” he said.