It's a Cong-BJP fight in Kurukshetra, the land of redemption

Kurukshetra in Haryana is known as a land of redemption. The question is who goes to Delhi from the sacred land. Raj Kumar Saini, the sitting BJP MP, has already quit the party. Former MP Naveen Jindal has not been given a seat by the Congress. The fight is intense with veteran leader Om Prakash Chautala’s grandson entering the fray.

The Congress candidate, Nirmal Singh, is deemed a formidable opponent, even in the absence of Jindal. He had won an election from jail, that too with all a margin so huge that the others in fray lost their deposits. Nirmal became the youngest minister in Haryana. He became MLA in 1982, 1991, 1996, 2005. He was also a part of the Rajiv Gandhi group and his stature has not diminished over the years, observers say. The party fortuitously replaced heavyweight Jindal with Nirmal Singh by placing faith on the latter’s mass appeal and popularity.

On the ground

The Congress office at sector 13 sees a flurry of activity. The office-bearers expect the candidate anytime soon. The party office is also the venue of some rituals to propitiate the gods. In between, the sombre Raghupati Ragahava Raja Ram… is played out. The candidate who arrives two hours late enters the office with folded hands. He goes straight to the holy fire lit got up as part of a yagna and makes offerings.

The Congress has high hopes in the seat. The Jats, who are not in good terms with the BJP now, are backing the Congress. Nirmal Singh is a Jat too and the Congress has been repeatedly invoking the Jat sentiment. In speeches, Congress leaders harp back to the Jat agitation of 2016 where 30 people were killed.

BJP's strategy

The BJP is banking on the ‘good governance’ of its government in the state. For party’s chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, this is electoral fight is a matter of pride, especially after the MP’s desertion of the party. The party has asked its candidate Nayab Saini, now a minister in the Haryana cabinet, to campaign hard. The party thinks Nayab Saini can garner some extended family votes in Kurukshetra and the support of the OBCs.

Careful tread

The party is but treading carefully after the sitting MP’s desertion. BJP leaders agree that it was a mistake to pick as MP a leader who opposed reservation for the Jats. Their stump speeches repeatedly state this and the aim is to garner the three lakh Jat votes.

Chautala factor

Om Prakash Chautala, now in jail as part of the college teacher appointment scam, is a spent force. His third grandson Arjun Chautala, 27, is in the fray too. He is banking on the ‘Hariyanvi’ tag and curates his attire to suit the state’s ethnicity. That much for his political lineage. The voting is on May 12.