Gurugram: Bhiwani-Mahendragarh MP Dharambir Singh has announced that the 2024 Parliamentary election was his last, saying that he would be already 74 when the next general elections take place.
He also refuted the talks linking his decision to the entry of the mother-daughter duo of Kiran and Shruti Choudhry in the BJP.
“If the party fields Kiran Choudhry or her daughter tomorrow, I will definitely support them. Why are people only able to think of just one reason behind my decision (to quit electoral politics)?” he told ThePrint. “I will be 74 by 2029. Shall I keep contesting elections throughout my life?”
The BJP MP added that he had taken this decision because he thought that 75 was good enough to retire from politics, and not due to the party’s unspoken rule of retirement at that age.
His announcement came within a week after Bansi Lal’s daughter-in-law Kiran Choudhry and her daughter joined the BJP after quitting the Congress.
His decision not to contest the next election because of his age has evoked interest because in the past BJP has “retired” senior party leaders like L.K Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi from electoral politics.
In this year’s Lok Sabha campaign, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal caused a flutter when he said that Narendra Modi would retire as PM in 2025 on attaining the age of 75 and then Amit Shah would take over the reins of power at the Centre.
Singh, 69, has been a political rival of Bansi Lal’s clan since 1987 when he defeated the former Haryana chief minister in his first election from Tosham assembly seat.
In fact, Dharambir Singh has the unique distinction of defeating three generations of Bansi Lal – the former CM himself, his son Surender Singh, and granddaughter Shruti Choudhry.
The three-time BJP MP also said that Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh should have been inducted as a Cabinet minister because of his tall stature and support base.
To a query on whether he plans to launch any of his children into politics, Singh replied that he was not someone to decide their career.
Asked about the reasons why he was batting for Rao Inderjit Singh, he said that it was because of his fellow MP that the BJP has been winning a majority of 11 assembly seats in Gurugram, Rewari and Mahendragarh districts.
“Even I owe my victory from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat to Rao Inderjit Singh,” he said, referring to his lead in four assembly segments of Narnaul, Mahendragarh, Nangal Chaudhary and Ateli that fall under Mahendragarh district.
Who is Dharambir Singh
Born in a farming Jat family in Talu village of Bhiwani, Dharambir Singh contested his first election in 1987 as Devi Lal’s Lok Dal’s candidate (earlier avatar of INLD) when he defeated Bansi Lal in Tosham. He was inducted as a minister in Devi Lal’s Cabinet in 1987.
He ended his ties with the INLD and joined the Congress following his differences with Om Prakash Chautala before the 1991 assembly elections. By that time, Bansi Lal had quit the Congress and floated his Haryana Vikas Party (HVP).
Singh lost the next two elections from Tosham to Bansi Lal in 1991 and 1996.But in 2000, he defeated Bansi Lal’s son Surender Singh (HVP) in Tosham.
However, when Bansi Lal dissolved his HVP and Surender Singh returned to the Congress ahead of the 2005 assembly polls, Dharambir Singh shifted his base to the neighbouring Badhra assembly seat and defeated Ranbir Singh of the INLD.
In 2009, he contested from Sohna in Gurugram and won the election by obtaining a record 74.46 percent of the total polled votes
He switched to the BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls along with Rao Inderjit Singh. Since then, he has won all three elections held for the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha seat – he defeated Shruti Choudhry (Congress) in 2014 and 2019 and Rao Dan Singh (Congress) this time.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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