Battle of prestige in Bhiwani
From Jatinder Sharma
Tribune News Service

BHIWANI: The Bhiwani parliamentary constituency bordering the desert-state of Rajasthan, is witnessing a battle royal as the prestige of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and former Chief Ministers Bhajan Lal and Bansi Lal is at stake.

The outcome of the electoral battle is likely to decide the political future of Mr Bansi Lal, who held a sway over the Bhiwani district for over four decades.

Though 29 candidates are in the fray, the main contest appears among Mr Ajay Singh Chautala (INLD), son of Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Mr Dharamvir (Cong), a protege of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, and Mr Surender Singh (HVP), son of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal.

During the 1998 parliamentary elections, when Mr Bansi Lal was Chief Minister, Mr Surender Singh with the support of the BJP defeated the INLD-BSP candidate with a margin of 9711 votes. The then Congress candidate, a Bhajan Lal protege lost his security deposit.

However, the political scene has changed drastically since. Today, Mr Chautala is the Chief Minister and has entered into an electoral alliance with the BJP. The HVP chief, now leader of the Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha, has forged an understanding with the BSP. The Congress, too has replaced its candidate and fielded Mr Dharamvir, a poll veteran.

Electioneering in the constituency is at its peak. No candidate is leaving anything to chance. The BSP supremo, Mr Kanshi Ram, alongwith Mr Bansi Lal, has addressed a rally to seek votes for the HVP candidate. Mr Bansi Lal addressed another rally in the town on the day the nomination papers of Mr Surender Singh were filed. He has also gone door-to-door in Tosham to mobilise party activists and canvass support for his son.Mr Chautala, too, addressed a rally on the day his son Ajay Singh filed his nomination papers. He has visited almost the entire constituency to ensure the victory of his son. After unfurling the national flag on Independence Day, he took a round of the city in a private vehicle and enquired about the problems being faced by the citizens.

The former Chief Minister, Mr Bhajan Lal, who himself is contesting the Karnal parliamentary constituency, has addressed rallies in support of Congress candidate Dharamvir at Adampur and here. Pleading for the nomination of Dharamvir, Mr Bhajan Lal reportedly assured the party command that he would ensure his victory.Although the INLD candidate, Mr Ajay Singh Chautala, appears to have an edge over his rivals, the Congress candidate is not far behind. The HVP nominee is also catching up.

Interestingly, the position of candidates vary from one assembly segment to another. The INLD candidate appears ahead of the HVP nominee in Loharu, Badhra, and Dadri. The Congress has an edge in Adampur and Tosham and the HVP in Bhiwani. The three candidates are likely to share votes in the Mundhal and Bawani Khera assembly segments.

The CPM candidate, Mr Parbhat Singh, has deep roots among the brick-klin workers who have a voting strength of nearly one lakh. He has limited financial resources and his party workers are cycling from one village to another to seek support for him.The CPM is distributing literature, of which it has no dearth, to mobilise votes for its candidate. He appears to be cutting into the votebank of main contestants.

The constituency has 10,53,603 voters, including 4,83,198 women electorate. The Administration has identified 100 villagers as “sensitive” of which 56 are “supersensitive”.