Gurugram: Ending his days of political oblivion, former Haryana deputy chief minister and Congress candidate Chander Mohan won against his nearest rival and BJP candidate Gian Chand Gupta by 1,997 votes in Panchkula.
While Chander Mohan secured 67,397 votes, Gupta managed 65,400 votes and Aam Aadmi Party’s Prem Garg tallied 3,332 votes.
Gupta, the speaker of the outgoing Haryana Assembly, was the sitting MLA of this constituency.
Chander Mohan is former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal’s elder son. His younger brother Kuldeep Bishnoi is with the BJP, while Kuldeep’s son Bhavya Bishnoi is the BJP candidate in Adampur.
This victory marks Chander Moha’s return to political centrestage after his career plunge following his resignation as deputy chief minister in 2008. This was the time when he was in the news for his ‘love marriage’ to Anuradha Bali alias Fiza by converting to Islam as Chand Mohammed.
Chander Mohan, a four-time MLA, first won from Kalka (Panchkula was a part of the Kalka assembly seat till it was carved out a separate constituency following delimitation ahead of the 2009 polls) in a byelection held in 1993. He then won the seat in 1996, 2000, and 2005.
When the Congress chose Bhupinder Singh Hooda to head the Congress government in 2005 ignoring Bhajan Lal’s claim, Mohan was made deputy CM in Hooda’s government.
When his father and younger brother launched their Haryana Janhit Party (HJC) in 2007, Mohan had chosen to remain with the Congress. He, however, had to resign in 2008 following his tumultuous love affair.
The Congress didn’t consider him for a ticket in 2009, and he unsuccessfully contested from Nalwa in Hisar in 2014 on a HJC ticket. The Congress fielded him from Panchkula in 2019, but he lost to BJP’s Gupta by a narrow margin of nearly 5,000 votes.
(Edited by Tony Rai)