Ex-MLA Dharambir Gaba may grab Congress ticket in Gurgaon

GURGAON: With an eye on the Punjabi vote bank in the upcoming assembly polls, Congress is likely to field an old face from Gurgaon - former MLA Dharambir Gaba.
Gaba, a veteran Congress leader having strong hold on the Punjabi community, will make it a three-cornered fight with BJP's Umesh Aggarwal and Gopichand Gehlot of Indian National Lok Dal.
Congress is likely to release its list of 90 candidates for the October 15 assembly polls on Wednesday.
"The number of Punjabi voters is biggest in Gurgaon and therefore the candidate with strong roots in the Punjabi community is likely to get good support. More importantly, none of the major parties, including BJP and INLD, has given ticket to a Punjabi candidate due to which the community is not happy with ticket distribution," said a local Congress worker, who is also a strong contender for the party ticket.
In the previous assembly election, Gaba lost to independent candidate Sukhbir Kataria. But Gaba has contested seven elections on Congress ticket, out of which he won four and lost three.
On the other hand, Congress is likely to give ticket to sitting Congress MLA Rao Dharampal's son from Badshahpur seat, sources indicated.
The Congress candidate will face Rao Narbir Singh of BJP and Rakesh Daultabad of INLD apart from other candidates including independents.
The party sources said that Dharampal or his son Virendra Singh are likely to get ticket from Badshahpur due to huge Yadav (Ahir) vote bank in the constituency.
Though Narbir is considered a strong candidate due to his strong hold on the Yadav community, Dharampal or his son could give a fight to him.
On other seats of Gurgaon district, including Sohna and Pataudi, the party is planning to give ticket on caste-based formula. On the ticket distribution, a senior party leader said that auspicious days begin from Wednesday and therefore the list is most likely to be announced tomorrow.