BJP tried hard to defeat me in Hry polls: Lalu's son-in-law

Good news came from Haryana for jailed RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, as Cheeranjiv Rao, who is married to his sixth daughter Anushka, won from Rewari as a Congress candidate in the just-culminated assembly polls.

Rao, who hails from a political dynasty himself, credited his victory to the party workers and said that the margin of his victory was less as four-time Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh had made the seat "an issue of prestige" and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar campaigned in his constituency.

Rao's father and former state minister Captain Ajay Yadav had won six times consecutively from Rewari, before losing it in the 2014 polls. His grandfather, Rao Abhey Singh, had also represented the Rewari seat thrice. Rao made his political debut in this election at 33 from Rewari in south Haryana, also known as Ahirwal the region.

He faced stiff competition as the BJP's candidate was none other than a close aide of four-time MP and Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh, and managed to win by a margin of 1,300 odd votes.

Speaking to IANS, the Congress leader cited his slim victory margin to Rao Inderjit Singh having "made this seat an issue of prestige and thus, he and his daughter (Aarti) campaigned extensively for the BJP candidate".

"Even Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar addressed two rallies in Rewari, BJP President Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also campaigned in Rewari," he said, adding: "While for us, no one of the top party leaders campaigned in the constituency."

"I won the seat due to the hard work of my party workers, who believed in me," he said.

According to party leaders, Rao was set to face Rao Inderjit's daughter Aarti in the poll but this did not materialise due to the BJP's policy of not giving ticket to the relative of any lawmakers. Rao fetched a vote share of 27.82 per cent, while the BJP candidate, Sunil Kumar, got 26.99 per cent vote share.

The Congress leader believe that the rebel BJP MLA Randhir Singh Kapriwas, contesting as an Independent candidate, also played an important factor in the dip in his vote share. Kapriwas, who won the 2014 assembly elections as a BJP candidate, could manage to get only 23.33 per cent of the vote as an Independent candidate.

On his future plans, Rao told IANS: "I want to work for the people of Rewari and I want to focus on to improve the medical system in my constituency as well keep on demanding for the 75 per cent reservation for the youths in the private sector."

The Congress leader said that he want to revive the work of the medical college in the area which was stopped by the BJP government.

He said he will also revive the work for the the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), which was announced by Prime Minister Modi.

The Congress, which was decimated in the 2014 assembly polls winning only 15 out of 90 seats, made a dramatic comeback in the state this year as it won 31 seats. The BJP, which won 47 in 2014 elections, however, fell six seats short of the majority while the less than year old Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) won 10 seats. The Indian National Lok Dal was reduced to one and the remaining seats were won by a small party and seven Independents.

Meanwhile, Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) also won two seats in Bihar bypolls. The RJD, which emerged as the biggest party in Bihar in the 2015 assembly polls, however, could not win a single seat in the Lok Sabha polls this year.IANS