In the high-pitched bypoll to Jind assembly constituency, the electioneering by arch rivals, the ruling BJP and the Congress, for their respective candidates has picked up momentum.

The Chief Minister Manohar Lal on Friday joined the election campaigning for party’s candidate Krishan Middha. The Chief Minister held a series of meetings including reaching out to the disgruntled BJP leaders in Jind till later evening to muster support for party’s candidate.

Union Minister Birender Singh and Haryana Cabinet Ministers have already been campaigning to ensure party’s victory in Jind bypoll, scheduled to be held on January 28.

On the other hand, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, CLP leader Kiran Chaudhary, MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi and other senior leaders are campaigning for party’s nominee and sitting MLA Randeep Surjewala.

The keenly watched Jind bypoll is witnessing a three-cornered electoral battle, with the Congress’ sitting MLA Randeep Singh Surjewala, Jannayak Janta Party’s Digvijay Chautala and BJP’s Krishan Middha, son of late INLD MLA Hari Chand Middha, in the fray.

While the BJP, Congress and JJP have fielded heavyweights for the Jind polls, the Indian National Lok Dal, which is facing a tough challenge to retain its Jind assembly seat has fielded a low profile candidate, Umed Singh Redhu.

The bye-election to Jind assembly seat was necessitated following the demise of Hari Chand Middha in August. INLD’s Hari Chand Middha had represented the Jind seat for two consecutive terms in 2009 and 2014.

The Jind bypoll has turned into a prestige issue for all major political parties, ahead of upcoming Lok Sabha elections and assembly polls schedule later this year in Haryana.

Aware of the fact that a favorable bypoll outcome for a political party will send out a bigger message ahead of 2019 general election, the BJP and Congress are leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters of Jind.

Beginning the election campaigning on Friday, the Chief Minster Manohar Lal alongwith Union Minister Birender Singh met Tek Ram Kandela, head of Kandela Khap in Jind and sought his support for party’s candidate.

Unhappy at being denied party’s ticket in bypoll, Tek Ram Kandela, a Jat leader and a BJP member had announced not to campaign for the party.  Kandela Khap is said to have an influence in more than 25 villages in the Jind Assembly segment.

After the meeting, the Chief Minister claimed that the BJP has support of all sections and will win the Jind bypoll.

When asked to comment on his meeting with disgruntled BJP leader Tek Ram Kandela,  Manohar Lal said that such things  happen during election season and we are making efforts to reach out to such leaders.

Tek Ram Kandela has, however, not confirmed his support to any party candidate yet. He had been earlier approached by the Congress and the JJP also for electoral support.

The Chief Minister also met former MP Surender Barwala, who was unhappy with the BJP after denial of ticket. Barwala had only a day before announced support for the BJP candidate.

Apart from meeting party’s disgruntled leaders and urging them to actively participate in party programmes, Manohar Lal also held various meetings to gather support for the Krishan Middha.

The Chief Minister will leave on Saturday for his visit to Gujarat and later, Uttar Pradesh to attend a series of events and will return Haryana on January 22 to join electioneering again.

Given the significance of Jind bypolls, the Congress leaders are also going all out to woo the Jind voters.

Two-time former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who has been campaigning for Surjewala on Friday said that the party is confident of its victory. The BJP Government in Haryana has done nothing for Jind assembly segment and voters are ready to teach them a lesson, said Hooda while talking to the mediapersons in Jind.

Meanwhile, independent MLA from Kalayat, Jai Prakash has extended his support to Congress candidate Surjewala. After meeting Congress veteran Ahmed Patel in New Delhi on Friday, Jai Prakash announced his support to Surjewala and said that he will campaign for the Congress.

A popular Jat leader, Jai Prakash had been seeking the Congress ticket for his son Vikas Saharan, a political novice but the party had decided to field sitting MLA from Kaithal, Randeep Surjewala.

Debutant Digvijay Chautala, supported by Jannayak Janta Party, a breakaway faction of INLD, has also been holding public meetings to reach out to the voters. His mother and Dabwali MLA, Naina Chautala and elder brother Hisar  MP Dushyant Chautala are also campaigning for Digvijay.

Leader of opposition and INLD’s senior leader Abhay Chautala also held campaigning for party candidate Umed Singh Redhu.

Notably, the Jind assembly segment has more than 1.7 lakh voters including over 1.07 lakh urban voters and nearly 62,500 living in villages.

The results of bypoll will be announced on January 31.

In 2014 assembly polls, INLD’s Harichand Middha had won with 31,631 votes and defeated BJP candidate Surinder Barwala with a small margin 2,257 votes. According to the political observers, Middha had managed two consecutive victories due to voting by Jats, core supporters of the INLD and the Punjabi community in the constituency.