CHANDIGARH: The upcoming assembly polls in Haryana will likely witness former Chief Minister Bansi Lal’s grandchildren contesting against each other from Tosham. Both former Member of Parliament Shruti Choudhry-- daughter of Bansi Lal’s younger son late Surender Singh — and Anirudh Chaudhary, son of Lal’s elder son Ranbir Mahendera (first cousins), have staked claim over their grandfather’s legacy and expressed their willingness to fight from the seat.
While Shruti is seeking a BJP ticket, Anirudh aspires to get a ticket from the Congress. Neither the BJP nor the Congress has announced their list of candidates.
A couple of months back, Kiran Choudhry, along with her daughter Shruti, had quit the Congress to join the BJP. She was upset after the grand old party refused to give Shruti the ticket from the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha seat. Recently, the BJP nominated Kiran for the Rajya Sabha bypoll from Haryana.
On Tuesday, she was elected unopposed as the party is strengthening its position in the state ahead of the crucial October 1 state assembly election, more so after it became evident during the recent Lok Sabha polls that the farming community, especially Jats essentially opposed the ruling party.
Meanwhile, Anirudh is considered close to former chief minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Both Shruti and Anirudh had recently held rallies on the 97th birth anniversary of their grandfather and sought public support. Shruti said when her father and grandfather died, her mother Kiran shifted to Tosham from Delhi politics, and she represented this seat four times and now they joined the BJP due to one person.
She claimed that her grandfather Bansi Lal announced that he would hand over his political legacy to her during a programme. But now, some people (Anirudh) talk about her grandfather’s legacy.
Her mother, Kiran Choudhry, said that were there to hand over her daughter Shruti to the Tosham voters.
Shruti Choudhry was elected MP from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh in 2009 on a Congress ticket, but Dharambir Singh of the BJP defeated her in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Her late father Surender Singh, and grandfather, Bansi Lal, held the Bhiwani seat on multiple occasions.
On the other hand, Anirudh Chaudhary claimed to be the real torch-bearer of his grandfather’s legacy. After merging the Haryana Vikas party into the Congress, Bansi Lal told the leaders of the Congress that his younger son Surender Singh will represent the family, but after Surender’s death, Bansi Lal stated that his son Ranbir Mahendra and his son will carry the family’s legacy.
Anirudh Chaudhary had said that he will contest the election from Tosham on a Congress ticket. Now, the party has to take a call. Claiming that he has the support of the youth, he said if he gets the ticket from Tosham, all the Congress leaders in the race for the ticket will support him.