BJP revamps Haryana Election panel; Bishnoi added, Jindal and Kiran Choudhary dropped

In a swift response to senior leader Anil Vij’s public outcry, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has revised its State Election Committee list to include Vij’s name. Initially, the list featured prominent figures such as Chief Minister Nayab Saini, Union Ministers Manohar Lal Khattar, Rao Inderjit Singh, Krishan Pal Gurjar, and state BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli, along with other key leaders including Ram Bilas Sharma, OP Dhankar, and Arvind Sharma.

Anil Vij, who had been vocal about his exclusion, reportedly took the issue up with BJP’s Haryana election in-charge, Dharmendra Pradhan, leading to the inclusion of his name at the 9th position. Vij further publicized his grievance by sharing a photo from his meeting with Pradhan at his Delhi residence.

The revision comes amid ongoing tensions between Vij and former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, especially following Khattar’s abrupt removal and the appointment of Nayab Saini as Chief Minister earlier this year. Vij did not take oath as minister under the Saini cabinet.

In a surprising move, Kuldeep Bishnoi, son of the late former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, has been allocated positions in both the Election and Management Committees. Meanwhile, Naveen Jindal, the lone BJP MP from Haryana, has been notably excluded from both committees. Additionally, former Congress leaders Kiran Chaudhary and her daughter Shruti Choudhary, who recently joined the BJP, were also left out of the committees.

Amidst this, only three women—Sudha Yadav, Sunita Duggal, and Usha Priyadarshi—made it onto the final list of 21. The BJP’s committee formation reflects a delicate balance of caste and regional considerations, aimed at appeasing various factions within the party.

According to party insiders, State President Mohan Lal Badoli finalized the State Election Committee for the 2024 Assembly elections after extensive consultations with National President JP Nadda and the central leadership.