Farmers Movement Archive

Ellenabad bypoll: Counting of votes today

The counting of votes for the Ellenabad bypoll in Haryana’s Sirsa district will take place on Tuesday. The bypoll for this assembly seat had taken place on October 30.Over 81.38% voters turnout was reported in Ellenabad, while in the 2019 assembly polls, 83.24% voter turnout was reported from here. The fate of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) nominee Abhay Singh Chautala, his former aide and Congress candidate Pawan Beniwal and BJP’s Gobind Kanda will be decided with this.Though as many as 17 candidates were in the fray, the main contest is said to be between these three leaders.Sirsa deputy commissioner Anish Yadav said the counting of votes will start at 8am. “Three-tier security will be deployed to ensure peaceful counting. The counting of votes will be done first followed by counting of EVM votes,” the DC said.The DC and other senior officials visited the counting centre in Sirsa to check the arrangements.INLD supremo and former Haryana chief minister OP Chautala said Abhay will win the bypoll with a thumping majority.“I have received feedback from villages and my analysis predicts that the bypoll was a cakewalk for party nominee Abhay. The farmers’ anger is brewing against the ruling BJP-JJP alliance,” he added.The bypoll was necessitated after INLD’s lone MLA Abhay Singh Chautala had resigned from the Haryana assembly on January 27 after the Republic Day violence at Red Fort, in support of the farmers protesting against the farm laws.The Ellenabad bypoll is just as crucial for the INLD because it’s the only seat in the 90-member Haryana assembly from where the INLD had won in 2019.A decisive win would reassert the INLD’s stature in state politics, particularly in the Jat-dominated farming belt.On the other hand, the BJP sees the bypoll as a golden opportunity for it and a test for the INLD, which has been holding the agriculture-dominated seat since 1996.Abhay has been representing the constituency since 2010, while the BJP has never won from here. No member of the Chautala family has lost from here so far since 1966.This assembly seat includes 35% Jat voters, a majority of whom are dependent on agriculture. Hence, INLD’s Abhay has been expecting their support amid the farm agitation. However, the BJP is trying to get majority of the non-Jat chunk of votes as it has fielded turncoat Gobind Kanda.

Hindustan Times

02-11-2021

Chandigarh