Haryana results 2024: BJP’s Rao Inderjit Singh hits super six in Gurgaon, beats Raj Babbar in close contest

Gurgaon: After a suspense that stretched well into the afternoon, BJP’s Rao Inderjit Singh defeated his nearest rival – actor-politician Raj Babbar of Congress – by more than 75,000 votes.
This marked his sixth win as MP and fourth from Gurgaon since it became a Lok Sabha seat in 2008. His victory margin, however, came down drastically from 4 lakh in 2019.The day began with the numbers inclined towards Babbar. The Congress candidate maintained a steady lead of 30,000-40,000 till 2pm, after which the tables turned towards Rao Inderjit. By the end of the day, the BJP veteran had secured 75,079 votes more than his rival.

Of the 16 lakh-odd votes that were polled in Gurgaon, Rao Inderjit bagged over 8 lakh while Babbar had 7.3 lakh votes in his kitty. Officials said the Congress candidate took the lead in the morning as votes from Nuh were counted first. Babbar maintained a lead for 6 hours straight as he bagged a majority of votes from the three assembly constituencies of Nuh – Punhana, Ferozpur Jhirka and Nuh.
In the morning, when Babbar was leading by around 40,000 votes, he said in Rewari, “This is a decision of the people. And it’s the people who are leading.”
However, when the trends started trickling in from Gurgaon and Badshapur, the tally inclined towards Rao Inderjit. Barring Nuh, he managed a decent lead from other seats.
According to reports, the BJP candidate’s performance was not up to the mark in Pataudi, Rewari and Bawal, which was against the party’s expectations. Political analysts said BJP’s lead in Gurgaon proved residents gave preference to national issues over local ones, such as the state’s unemployment rate, civic infrastructure and others.
Through its campaign, Congress reached out to voters on local issues and hoped to capitalise on the anti-incumbency sentiment, particularly among farmers and members of the Jat community. BJP spoke on national topics and achievements of the Modi govt at the Centre.
In the Ahirwal region, considered a stronghold for Rao Inderjit, there was discontent with the govt over Agnipath, the short-term Army recruitment scheme. Most youths, who grow up hoping to join the Army some day, said their dreams were shattered with the govt’s decision.
Launched in June 2022, the Agnipath scheme has reduced the service period for new joinees to just four years. Agniveers – as youths would be called after joining the force – would not get any additional post-retirement benefits either.
The short-term scheme has reverberated through the campaign in the region, with Congress vowing to scrap it and BJP promising a review to offer best opportunities to youngsters. The other candidates — JJP’s Rahul Yadav Fazilpuria, Vijay Khatana of BSP and Sorab Khan of INLD — failed to make any impact. Singer Fazilpuria got 13,278 votes, Khatana bagged 8,946 and Khan garnered 4,917 votes. In 2019, Rao Inderjit had secured 8.8 lakh votes or 61% of the total from Gurgaon. He defeated Congress’s Captain Ajay Singh Yadav, who received 4.9 lakh votes.
In the 2014 election, when Inderjit quit Congress and joined BJP, he trounced Zakir Hussain of INLD by 2.7 lakh votes, which was over 20% of the total votes in the seat. That year, BJP secured a vote share of 48.8% in the seat.