The second round of ticket allotment on Thursday too went in favour of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda when he managed to push the candidature of four new entrants to the Congress for the current Haryana Assembly polls.

Former minister Sampat Singh, who had defected to Congress after losing Lok Sabha polls as a nominees of the INLD, was rewarded with a ticket from Nalwa. However, a tough contest awaits him with Haryana Janhit Congress chief leader Bhajan Lal having fielded his wife Jasma Devi from the seat. Former INLD member of the Lok Sabha Sushil Kumar was allotted a ticket from Kalanwali (reserved) constituency. Ram Kumar Gautam, a member of the dissolved Assembly, had quit the BJP to the join Congress. Hooda got him the Congress nomination from his Narnaund constituency. Former minister Shakuntala Bhagwaria was among the nine independent MLAs who were admitted to the Congress on the eve of the polls. She has been put up as Congress candidate from her Bawal (reserved) constituency.

Another major gain for Hooda was the allotment of the ticket to former Haryana minister Ranjit Singh, younger brother of INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, from the Rania constituency.

There was some consolation for the Surjewalas, father Shamsher Singh and son Randeep, as two of their supporters, Tejinder Pal Mann and Ram Phal Lot, were given tickets from Kalayat and Narwana (reserved) seats. Randeep, a minister in the Hooda Government, had moved to his father constituency, Kaithal, earlier because his own Narwana constituency had been reserved for SCs following delimitation.

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