Bipolar contest in Sirsa constituency between BJP's Ashok Tanwar and congress' Kumari Selja

Sirsa (Haryana) [India], May 21 : The Sirsa Lok Sabha constituency in Haryana is poised for a high-stakes electoral contest on May 25 during the Sixth Phase.
This constituency, encompassing nine legislative assembly segments: Narwana, Tohana, Fatehabad, Ratia, Kalanwali, Dabwali, Rania, Sirsa, and Ellenabad is witnessing a significant face-off between BJP's Ashok Tanwar and Congress' Kumari Selja.
Historically, Sirsa has been a Congress stronghold. However, the political landscape shifted in 2014 when the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) clinched the seat. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has never won here, is now fielding Ashok Tanwar, a recent convert from the Congress.
In the 2019 elections, BJP's Sunita Duggal won decisively with 714,351 votes, defeating Ashok Tanwar of Congress by a margin of 309,918 votes. This marked a significant gain for BJP in a traditionally non-BJP constituency.
In 2014, the Sirsa parliamentary constituency recorded a total of 1,660,557 electors. Charanjeet Singh Rori of the Indian National Lok Dal won, securing a total of 506,370 votes. Ashok Tanwar of the Indian National Congress stood second with a total of 390,634 votes, losing by 115,736 votes.
Notably, Ashok Tanwar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on January 20 in Delhi in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and BJP National General Secretary Arun Singh.
Tanwar resigned from the Congress in 2019 and joined AAP in 2022. Earlier, the former Lok Sabha MP joined the Trinamool Congress for a brief period.
Earlier on May 20 during the 5th phase of the Lok Sabha election, Ashok Tanwar's statements underscore his confidence in a BJP landslide victory, citing strong support for PM Modi.
"Today, this is a Bharat Varsh (India) of 140 crore people, out of which 100 crore are going to vote this time. In their hearts, PM Modi resides, and the one who resides in their hearts also gets their votes. So, the bouquet of crossing 400 seats is being prepared very strongly. The sixth phase of elections is on the 25th, and on the 4th of June, when the counting will take place, we will have BJP's victory in Sirsa, and it will be with a greater margin than before. After we have completed 60 days of campaign, Congress has fielded candidates. They have already accepted defeat. Congress candidates are likely to lose their deposits in all 10 seats," Tanwar said.
On the other hand, Kumari Selja, fielded by Congress on April 25, has criticized BJP's ambitious claims, pointing to their performance in the Haryana legislative assembly elections where they fell short of their targets.
Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 11 Selja said, "They earlier made claims to win 70-75 seats in the Haryana legislative assembly election. But what happened? They got stuck on 40 seats. Whatever analysis they make, everyone knows that they cannot even reach somewhere near 400 seats."
In Haryana, the Congress and the AAP will fight in alliance, with the Congress contesting nine Lok Sabha constituencies while one seat from Kurukshetra has been given to the AAP.
The Lok Sabha elections for the 10 parliamentary constituencies of Haryana are going to be held in a single phase on May 25.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the state, the BJP swept the state, capturing all 10 seats. In the 2014 elections, the BJP won 7 seats, while the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) won 2 seats and the Congress secured only one seat.