ASSESSING SANJAY BHATIA'S PERFORMANCE AS KARNAL'S MP

The Karnal Lok Sabha seat is considered politically significant and prestigious. It has a unique history associated with Karnal and Panipat.

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Panipat, known for three historical battles, witnessed a significant conflict between Mohammed Ghori and Prithviraj Chauhan. The fort of Prithviraj Chauhan still stands in Tarawadi.

Several villages in Karnal district fall within the 48-kilometer boundary of Dharmakshetra-Kurukshetra.

Karnal boasts many large factories, while Panipat is famous for its handloom industry worldwide. Currently, Sanjay Bhatia, a prominent leader of the BJP, represents this constituency in the Lok Sabha.

Sanjay Bhatia has been associated with the BJP since his college days, actively involved with the ABVP. After becoming the Mandal Secretary in 1987, he later served as the district secretary of ABVP in 1989. In 1998, Sanjay Bhatia was appointed as the State General Secretary of the BJP Youth Wing. He shares a close association with Haryana's CM Manohar Lal Khattar.

Although he has contested two assembly elections without success, Sanjay Bhatia's performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was remarkable. In his debut Lok Sabha election, he defeated his opponent by a margin of 6.54%.

This victory marked the largest margin in the history of the state, surpassing the record set by Pritam Munde in the previous Lok Sabha elections.

Karnal is known as the city of Karna, and it holds significance for being the constituency where former CM Bhajan Lal faced defeat.

Even BJP stalwart Sushma Swaraj was keen on winning from Karnal. The Congress has a stronghold on this seat, having won 11 out of 17 elections conducted here.

However, BJP's influence has strengthened in recent years.