Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi recently raised concerns about discrepancies in voter lists during the Haryana Assembly elections held in October 2024. The Congress party had submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission highlighting irregularities related to EVM machines across several constituencies. The party specifically identified seven seats where they suspected problems: Karnal, Rewari, Panipat City, Hodal, Dabwali, Kalka, and Narnaul. Congress candidates lost all these seats, with defeat margins ranging from 610 votes to 35,672 votes. Six of these seats were won by the BJP, while one went to the INLD. The results showed varied patterns, including narrow losses, significant defeats, and contests involving multiple parties. Some seats saw BJP rebels and AAP candidates splitting votes, which may have impacted Congress performance. Despite the complaints, the final outcomes remained unchanged across these constituencies.
BJP Strongholds: Karnal, Panipat City, and Narnaul
Karnal has been a BJP bastion since 2014, previously represented by former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Jagmohan Anand won in 2024, defeating Congress's Sumita Virk by 33,652 votes. In Panipat City, sitting BJP MLA Pramod Kumar Vij retained his seat with a margin of 35,672 votes against Congress's Varinder Kumar Shah. Narnaul saw BJP's Om Prakash Yadav defeat Congress's Rao Narender Singh by 17,171 votes. Om Prakash, who also won in 2014 and 2019, serves as Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment. Congress last won Narnaul in 1991. All three constituencies demonstrated strong BJP performance with comfortable victory margins.
Close Contests and Key Defeats in Other Constituencies
Dabwali witnessed the closest result, where INLD's Aditya Devilal defeated sitting Congress MLA Amit Sihag by just 610 votes. In Hodal, Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan lost to BJP's Harinder Singh by 2,595 votes, causing particular embarrassment for the party. Kalka saw BJP's Shakti Rani Sharma, who joined the party three days before nomination, defeat Congress's Pradeep Chaudhary by 10,883 votes. In Rewari, considered a Congress stronghold, BJP's Laxman Singh Yadav defeated Chiranjeev Rao by 28,769 votes. The AAP candidate received 18,427 votes here, potentially affecting Congress prospects. These results reflected varied challenges faced by Congress across different constituencies.
Source: Link