The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Gobind Kanda, the elder brother of Sirsa MLA Gopal Kanda, from the Ellenabad Assembly seat. The BJP and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) agreed to field Gobind for the October 30 bypolls. The seat is now all set for a triangular contest. The two other candidates are – Pawan Beniwal of Congress and Indian National Lok Dal’s party secretary-general Abhay Singh Chautala.
While Beniwal had contested on a BJP ticket in 2014 and 2019, Abhay was the sitting MLA from the seat and had resigned in protest against the Centre’s three farm laws.
The Congress saw a tough fight for the ticket with three candidates vying for the seat. Apart from Beniwal, his uncle Bharat Singh Beniwal and Amardeep Sihag also wanted to contest the poll on a Congress ticket. Bharat Singh had contested Ellenabad polls on Congress ticket twice in 2014 and 2019.
This is not the first poll battle for 54-year-old Gobid Kanda. He had twice contested from Rania Assembly constituency before in 2014 and 2019 but lost. Kanda brothers were once very close to the Chautala clan but had parted ways after starting their own business. They had floated the Haryana Lokhit Party just before the 2019 Assembly polls and had later announced unconditional support to the BJP. Gopal Kanda had served as Minister of State for Home Affairs in the Congress government in 2009 under then CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Gobind Kanda is the former Chancellor of Arni University in Himachal Pradesh. However, he has only completed his education till class 12.
A reserved seat between 1977 to 2005, Ellenabad was made a general constituency in 2009. It has remained the Chautala family’s stronghold with Om Prakash Chautala and Abhay Chautala holding the seat since 2009.
While the 2019 assembly polls did not prove good for the INLD as the party won only one seat and that was Ellenabad.
Gobind Kanda’s brother Gopal Kanda has been into controversies including one that involved abetting the suicide of air hostess Geetika Sharma who worked for Kanda’s now-defunct airline MDLR.
