India’s wealthiest woman and chairperson of the OP Jindal Group, Savitri Jindal, has filed her nomination to contest as an independent candidate from the Hisar constituency in the upcoming Haryana assembly elections. The 74-year-old made this move after the ruling BJP denied her a ticket, opting instead to field its minister Kamal Gupta for the Hisar seat.
In a statement, Savitri Jindal expressed her determination to honor the wishes of Hisar’s residents, saying, “Hisar is like family to me, and the people have asked me to contest. I cannot say ‘no’ to their request. To respect their sentiments, I am committed to running in this election.”
The former Congress MLA’s decision is seen as an effort to appease her supporters who were dismayed by the BJP’s decision. Jindal clarified that she had never officially joined the BJP, despite her son Naveen Jindal’s shift to the party ahead of the 2024 general elections. Naveen Jindal is currently a BJP MP from the Kurukshetra constituency.
When questioned about potential rebellion, Savitri Jindal emphasized, “I have not resigned from Congress, nor have I engaged in discussions with other parties. My sole focus is to fulfill the demands of the people of Hisar in what I anticipate to be my final electoral contest.”
She added, “Having served the public for over 20 years, I believe I deserve one last opportunity to complete the developmental work in Hisar.”
Savitri Jindal, the only woman on Forbes’ list of the top 10 richest Indians, began her political career following the death of her husband, OP Jindal, founder of the Jindal Group. After winning a by-election from Hisar in 2005, she served as a minister for nine years under the Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda. However, she lost the assembly election in 2014 to Kamal Gupta, the incumbent state minister and BJP candidate.
Jindal has declared assets worth ₹270.66 crore in her nomination papers, reflecting a significant increase from the ₹113 crore she reported during the 2014 assembly elections.
She also maintained a positive relationship with Hooda, stating, “He is like an elder brother to me. From the beginning, he has guided me through my political journey.”
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