JAMMU, April 18 -- When the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded Sunita Duggal as its candidate from the Sirsa (reserved) Lok Sabha seat, her rivals within the party and potential political foes entering the fray were amused.

But a week later, Duggal, the former Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, made a roaring entry into Sirsa, attracting women voters in large numbers.

The 51-year-old BJP nominee is not a greenhorn in electoral politics even as this is her first Lok Sabha election.

In the 2014 Haryana assembly elections, Duggal, who was then the saffron party's nominee from Ratia assembly segment of Fatehabad district, had sent out a clear message about her potential in politics, polling 50,452 and missing the winning spot by just 45...