LS polls: Congress' Deepender Hooda files nomination from home turf Rohtak

Rohtak: Congress' Rajya Sabha member Deepender Singh Hooda on Saturday filed his nomination papers for Lok Sabha polls from his home turf in Haryana's Rohtak -- a stronghold of the Jat community.

After filing the papers, a public meeting was organised that saw a gathering of party activists.

Speaking on the occasion, former Haryana chief minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda said: "This is not just the Lok Sabha election but a fight to save the Constitution. Democracy will survive only if the Constitution survives. That is why Opposition parties have united and formed the INDIA bloc. In Haryana, this alliance is contesting the elections with full strength."

Son of two-time chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Deepender, who inherited the politics from his family as his grandfather was a freedom fighter, has thrice won from the Rohtak Lok Sabha constituency in 2005, 2009 and 2014.

Deepender Hooda lost to BJP's Arvind Sharma in the 2019 general polls by a whisker.

Both candidates are in the fray again.

Arvind Sharma has promised to bring the Metro to Sampla in Rohtak district and announced to quit politics, if he failed to do so.

The Hoodas -- Deepender Hooda, his father Bhupinder Hooda and grandfather Ranbir Singh Hooda -- have represented Rohtak nine times.

In the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat, there are 18,86,796 voters who will cast votes along with nine other seats in the state on May 25.