New Delhi: Congress’s Pradeep Narwal, 33, has lost by 21,874 votes against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kapoor Singh in the Bawani Khera constituency in Haryana, according to the Election Commission website.
At a time when everyone noticed the tug of war between the Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Kumari Selja-Randeep Surjewala camps in Congress in Haryana, Pradeep Narwal has launched a ‘different’ camp. The 33-year-old Dalit leader got a ticket from the Bawani Khera constituency on the recommendation of Priyanka Gandhi.
A JNU alumnus, Narwal is a core member of the team of Priyanka Gandhi, the secretary in charge of western Uttar Pradesh. Son of a former paramilitary jawan, Narwal hails from Sonipat’s Kathura village. B.Tech holder Narwal completed his master’s in medieval history from Jawaharlal Nehru University, where the political bug bit him. In 2017, Narwal took the Congress’s hand and has not looked back since. In 2019, when Priyanka Gandhi became general secretary in charge, Narwal was appointed national coordinator of the party’s Scheduled Caste wing to oversee the party’s bid to revive in Uttar Pradesh. A couple of years later, he became secretary in charge of the western part of Uttar Pradesh.
In Bawani Khera, a reserved constituency, Narwal faced rebellions from other Congress aspirants, including three-time MLA Ram Kishan Fauji and Satbir Ratera. Both of them filed nominations as Independents. Later, Kishan Fauji took back his nomination and extended his support to Pradeep Narwal.
BJP’s Bishamber Singh won Bawani Khera in 2019 and 2014. This time, the BJP fielded Kapoor Singh.
Narwal has done aggressive campaigning in the limited days he got for his campaign, but after Priyanka’s rally, his campaign created a buzz.
Addressing a rally in Bawani Khera for him, Priyanka said, ”Pradeep Narwal has worked with me in UP, and everyone knows whoever works with me works 24×7. I do not let people sleep, and Pradeep is a hard-working person. He has struggled a lot in life.”
The Hoodas, Sachin Pilot, Banwar Jitendra Singh and many other senior Congress leaders also campaigned in Bawani Khera as the constituency is considered a “prestige” seat by the high command. On the ground, some see the potential of Narwal emerging as the next generation of politicians in Haryana, while others consider him an outsider.
The Bawani Khera constituency has an electorate of 2,17,111 voters — 58,245 are Jat voters, 30,175 belong to the Chamar caste, 34,769 are Rajputs, and 24,238 are Brahmins. Others are mixed OBCs (non-jats).
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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