A HIGH-STAKES POLL BATTLE IN HARYANA'S LADWA SEAT

The electoral battle in Ladwa constituency heats up as BJP's Nayab Singh Saini and Congress's Mewa Singh vie for crucial Jat and Saini votes.

- NEERAJ MOHAN

As election fever sweeps across Haryana, the previously lesser-known Ladwa constituency in Kurukshetra district has now emerged as a hotspot for a fiercely contested, caste-driven political battle between the Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini of the BJP, and the incumbent Congress MLA, Mewa Singh.

The stakes are high in Ladwa, where the Jat and Saini communities, each with a voting strength of around 40,000 are at the heart of this intense electoral battle.

In this closely contested race, both key contenders-Nayab Singh Saini and Mewa Singh are heavily relying on the support of their respective communities to secure victory.

Contesting his fifth election from his fourth constituency, Saini is now running from Ladwa, considered the "safest" seat among the three Saini-dominated constituencies after Radaur and Naraingarh. This decision follows BJP's internal report, which highlighted Ladwa as a stronghold based on the party's performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections, where it secured 47.14% of the votes in this segment.

With the Saini community forming 7.4% of the constituency's population, Saini banks on his community and BJP's rural outreach for a solid backing. Moreover, Ladwa was also part of the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha-the constituency represented by Nayab Saini in 2019. But this race was far from easy for the chief minister who had won the Karnal by-election comfortably by 41,450 votes.

In the past 11 months, Saini's political career has soared since his appointment as president of the Haryana BJP in October last year, followed by his rise to become the 11th chief minister of Haryana, just five months later. However, as he now faces a fierce battle in the upcoming Assembly elections, much is at stake for him.