Haryana polls: Meet Cong rebel Chitra Sarwara, leading against BJP’s Anil Vij

Independent candidate Chitra Sarwara was leading from Haryana’s Ambala Cantt assembly constituency, the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) trends showed, as the counting of votes for the October 5 assembly election in Haryana began on Tuesday morning and is currently underway.
Trailing Sarwara in second place is senior BJP leader and former minister Anil Vij, the sitting MLA from Ambala Cantt. who has won the seat six times. As of Tuesday afternoon, with six out of 16 rounds of counting held, Sarwara (20,443 votes) was ahead of Vij (19,898) votes.
(1.) She is a Congress rebel who chose to fight as an independent after being denied ticket by the party in favour of Parvinder Pal Pari, who was trailing in third.
(2.) As she was contesting against the party’s official candidate, the Congress suspended her for six years for ‘anti-party’ activities.
(3.) Previously, Chitra Sarwara was with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and served as its Haryana unit vice president. However, in December last year, both Chita and her father, Nirmal Singh, joined the Congress.
(4.) Her political career began in 2013, when she was elected as independent corporator from Ambala Cantt. Later, she joined the Congress and there, she served in positions such as state coordinator, spokesperson, etc.
(5.) She contested from Ambala Cantt in the 2019 Haryana assembly election as well, and again as an independent. Then, she came runner-up to Vij, winning 44,406 (36.48%) votes while the latter secured 64,571 (53.04%) votes, as per the ECI.
Meanwhile, defying all exit polls and 10-year anti-incumbency, the BJP is inching towards an historic term in the northern state, and is leading on 51 out of 90 seats in the Haryana assembly, while the Congress is leading on 34 seats .