We should elect good people... who don't divide the country
— Actor Shahrukh Khan

That (Narendra Modi as PM candidate) is about the future. Why do you want to discuss the future now?
— Former Gujarat CM Keshubhai Patel

Kurukshetra, April 30
With a short time left for the voters to decide their choice from this constituency, realpolitik has begun in earnest. Defections aside, candidates in the fray are leaving no stone unturned to garner the maximum support from voters.

While the sitting Member of Parliament belonging to the Indian National Congress (INC), Navin Jindal, is playing the development card and seeking re-election on the basis of all development works that have been undertaken by him during his five-year tenure, his main challenger, Ashok Arora, who is the state president of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), is trying to gather support by criticising Jindal for being “unapproachable” and “elitist”.

While Jindal goes about from one dusty village to another, he reminds people how he used money from his personal resources (through the trust formed under his father’s name) to create public parks out of wasteland, toilets for women in villages and organised umpteen free eye check-up camps. “The Congress has always stood for development. Allow us to serve you better,” he says, as people nod approvingly.

Ashok Arora, on the other hand, attacks the Congress on the issue of rising prices. At most of his election meetings, he launches his tirade against Jindal, saying that the latter has been promoting his family by naming “each and every park” after his late father.

“He (Jindal) is generally unavailable to people who voted for him and you have to deal with his team of officers here. Woh to helicopter mein udta hai, us ko sadak pe chalna na awe. Tabhi to thare gaon ki sadak ka bura hal hai. Jawano ko khel kud ke sadhan banwa diye, par naukri koi na dilayi.

Mhare ko safal banao aur phir dekho ke yahan pe factory lagegi aur sab ko rojgar milega (He flies in a chopper and so does not know how about the poor condition of roads. He claims to have set up sports facilities, but no factory has been set up and unemployment is rampant)”.

Though initially most believed that Kurukshetra would see a direct fight between the Congress and the INLD, the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate, Gurdial Singh Saini, too, has emerged as a strong candidate.

Though both Jindal and Arora rubbish his candidature as a threat to their votebank, the latter has managed to get a strong foothold among voters from the Scheduled Castes and backward classes, especially in rural areas of the constituency. His talk about the social engineering brought about by his party leader, Mayawati, is finding quite a few takers among the five lakh-odd SC/ BC voters here.

The fact that he has already represented this constituency as an MP in 1989 is also going in his favour. Jaswant Singh Cheema, the candidate fielded by the Haryana Janhit Congress, who is a retired Superintending Engineer, too, is playing the caste card. Claiming the support of over 85,000 Punjabi voters and 52,000 Sikh voters, he says he would work to ensure that there is equitable development, and it is not restricted to either the NCR or Rohtak.

Gurgaon, April 30
The very mention of the word “Gurgaon” creates an image of an urban area characterised by swanky malls, flyovers, upscale MNC office buildings, high-rise residential apartments and classy commercial complexes — in short, of a millennium city.

It is, therefore, quite understandable for one to expect that the Gurgaon parliamentary constituency will have an urbane outlook. The reality, however, is quite the opposite.

Howsoever strange it may sound, but contrary to the cosmopolitan character of Gurgaon city, the newly carved Gurgaon parliamentary constituency is dominated by a rural electorate, local issues orbiting around the provision of basic amenities and, what’s more, the prevalence of the caste factor.

The reasons behind the ironical-looking situation are not hard to guess. For one, the Gurgaon constituency is just one of the nine Assembly segments forming the Gurgaon parliamentary constituency. Then, most parts of the Assembly segments other than Gurgaon, including Badshahpur, Pataudi, Sohna, Nuh, Punhana, Ferozepur Jhirka, Rewari and Bawal, mainly comprise rural - or suburban - areas.

Moreover, according to poll observers, well-off urban people like those residing in up-market localities of the city hardly have any stakes in the poll. Neither do they expect a politician to get their children employed in some government job, nor do they yearn for “chaudhar” a la the rustic populace. Besides, many of them consider it below their dignity to wait in long queues to cast their vote.

Add to it the general indifference of the upper middle class voters in exercising their franchise, and this gives the parties all the more reason to put urban-centric issues on the back burner.

Hence, no wonder, issues like the provision of adequate water and power supply, good roads and better health and education facilities are dominating the poll scene.

The recent delimitation has completely changed the texture and character of the Gurgaon parliamentary constituency, proving to be a major factor.

Till the last elections, Gurgaon formed part of the Mahendragarh Lok Sabha constituency. The Ahir community, which used to enjoy a clear dominance then, has lost that edge with the Ahirwal belt having been divided between the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh and Gurgaon constituencies.

This has made the contest tough for the Congress nominee and sitting MP, Rao Inderjeet Singh, who enjoyed substantial support among the Ahirs. The presence of other Ahir candidates like Rao Narbir Singh of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) and Sudha Yadav of the BJP-INLD in the fray, as well as the anti-incumbency factor and factionalism within his party, have only added to the Congress candidate’s worries.

On the other hand, the addition of Mewat areas comprising Nuh, Punhana and Ferozepur Jhirka to the Gurgaon constituency has brought in a sizeable Meo electorate to it.

Keen on replicating its “social engineering” formula outside Uttar Pradesh as well, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) president fielded a Meo candidate, Zakir Hussain, to cash in on the changed caste equations in the newly forged parliamentary constituency.

Hussain, the political scion of the late leader Ch Tayyab Hussain, is banking heavily on the backing of Meo and SC-B electors. He, however, seems to have very little hold in the non-Mewat areas.

The BJP’s Sudha Yadav and the HJC’s Rao Narbir are also seasoned politicians in their own right. While Sudha has represented Gurgaon in the Lok Sabha, Narbir has been a minister in the state cabinet.

However, in the absence of any worthwhile poll plank or big issues, Rao Narbir as well as Sudha Yadav are focusing their attention on the anti-incumbency factor, rising prices and the “step-motherly treatment” given to the region.

Bhiwani, April 30
In rural Haryana, women don’t count. Not as voters at least. Their men do. So, while the election juggernaut gathers steam, Nirmala Devi is busy harvesting in Mareddi’s fields in Jind---almost untouched by the election fever.

“Chunav ka kae hai? Kabhi phool pe, kabhi patti pe, kabhi haath to kabhi kainchi pe thapa lagana hai,” she comments, not realising that most of these are not even election symbols.

Her friend, Santro, chips in, “Our men tell us who to vote for. Though I am not sure but I think Mayawati is standing against Hooda (Bhupinder Singh) and Chautala (Om Prakash) in this election.”

Travel anywhere on the road from Ambala to Bhiwani and the refrain is the same. “Why should we vote? Candidates come in big cars and cavalcades to our small villages, appeal to us for votes and never return. Vote to gerni hai, kisi ke liye bhi gira denge,” maintains Krishna Devi of Sekho ki Maitri in Ambala.

Ask Anubari of Jalbera village in the same area and pat comes the reply, “Saari duniya khadi hogi, jeetay ga to aeko. Vote waale din dekhenge.”

While only a handful of flags flutter atop homes of party loyalists along the roadside, Sarbati of Thana village rues, “Every election, in our village, the men get their bhukki and liquor. What do we get? Not even false promises. I have never seen a candidate come to my village and ask for votes, let alone redress our grievances.”

This election, their main issues are development, or the lack of it, while they are very sore with the non-issuance of BPL pink ration cards and rising prices. “Those with cars get pink cards and commoners like us have to buy food grains in the open market. The high cost of wheat and sugar is an issue. How can we think of an election when our stomachs are empty?” asks Mukhtiyari.

In Keorak (Kaithal), women are ignorant of any election happening in the state and Puni vouches for that. “How can there be an election? I haven’t seen any posters, nobody is talking of it. Anyway, even if there is, my role is limited to standing in a queue and casting my vote. My husband will choose the best man in the fray,” she emphasises.

Almost everywhere, on asking about elections, the women question, “Which party are you from? You recommend the candidate, we will cast our vote. You have at least taken the trouble of alighting from the car.”

Nirmala and Rajpati of Pai sum up the election and its meaning to women of rural Haryana. “Sab ka naam sunae hai. Yeh banke utar liye aur phir ban gaye. Hamara kisi ne kuch nahi kiya. Vote ke liye sab haath jodte hain, phir koi na puchhae,” they claim in unison.

This election, too, rural women, a potential vote bank, carry on with their lives in the fields and the villages of Haryana, virtually untapped. Nobody’s listening and nobody’s bothered as usual. That seems the norm in Haryana.

Meerut/Ghaziabad, April 30
In the cauldron of divisive, caste-based and religion-backed politics of Uttar Pradesh, it is the western part of the state that promises to be more colourful. A peculiar mix of candidates, communities, caste equations, muscle men and dynastic legacies promise a tough fight.

Among those trying their luck in the electoral arena in this area is an international cricketer; a couple of film stars; a mafia don-turned-politician; the kin of a former Prime Minister; the grand son of a former President; three former Chief Ministers, Rajnath Singh of the BJP, Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and Kalyan Singh, formerly of the BJP; husband of dacoit Phoolan Devi and the much-criticised Varun Gandhi besides his mother, Maneka Gandhi.

A total of 32 seats go to the polls in this area in two phases — 18 in the first phase on May 7 and the remaining 14 in the last phase on May 13. The western part of UP is an area starting from Mainpuri in the south-western part of the state and it runs northwards towards the Uttarakhand-Nepal border. It abuts Delhi, Haryana, parts of Rajasthan and MP. In the past, it has been the potent Muslim-Yadav axis.

Former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin is learning to bat on a “political wicket” in Moradabad. He is the Congress nominee in this Muslim-dominated constituency. Five-time MP and former Union Minister Saleem Sherwani is trying his luck again from Baduan on a Congress ticket after quitting the SP.

Pitted against him is mafia-don-turned politician, DP Yadav. BJP chief Rajnath Singh will contest the Ghaziabad seat. His one-time party-mate Kalyan Singh, who was the Chief Minister when the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992, is an Independent from Etah.

Salman Khurshid, Congress candidate from Farrukhabad, is a grandson of former President of India, Zakir Hussain. After dacoit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi was killed, her husband, Umed Singh has been given the party ticket from Shahjahanpur, a reserved seat.

Self-proclaimed champion of Jats, Ajit Singh, son of former Prime Minister Charan Singh, will be contesting from the family pocket borough of Baghpat in the heart of Jat-dominated areas along the left banks of the Yamuna. Jayant Singh, a grandson of Charan Singh and son of Ajit Singh, is contesting from Mathura. Their party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal, is in a pre-poll seat- sharing arrangement with the BJP.

Another family combine in the fray is Mulayam Singh Yadav from Mainpuri and his son Akhilesh Yadav from Kannauj. Completing the family combines is the new “champion” of a rabid form of Hindutva, Varun Gandhi from Pilihibit, and his mother, Maneka from Aonla. Bollywood actor Jaya Prada is trying her luck again from Rampur on the SP ticket.

Her chief opponents are Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi of the BJP and the wife of the erstwhile Nawab of the area, Begum Noor Bano, of the Congress. Cine star Raj Babbar, after parting ways with the SP, joined the Congress and is now contesting the Fatehpur Sikri seat.

Jaipur, April 30
The Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan have virtually taken the shape of a Vasundhara Raje v/s Ashok Gehlot contest with both leaders attacking each other at almost every public rally.

So much so that national issues have taken a back seat in the elections here even as the two state leaders are busy describing each other’s regime as “misrule”. Gehlot has been accusing Raje of spending crores of rupees on her palace in Dholpur and purchasing a house in London.

He also goes on to claim that her silence over his allegations indicates that they are true. He is also charging her with using foul language against Congressmen out of sheer frustration. Gehlot thunders at his rallies, “It is not me but her own ministers who raised questions over her deals and monarchy.

Being a part of democracy it is our duty to raise these issues of corruption. She has been the CM for five years and if she has taken certain decisions, which were not in the state’s interest, she owes an explanation to the people. She should reply to the charges instead of deflecting the issues. ”

During his rallies, Gehlot also has a dig at the BJP’s position in Raje’s pocket borough, Jhalawar. “She could not move out of Jhalawar for the last one month as her hometurf has turned unsafe for her son, Dushyant Singh.”

On the other hand, Gehlot’s bete noire Raje accuses him of thinking more about her than the state. “Gehlot failed to start any development programme in the state and when people asked him, he replied that he was bound by the code of conduct. The Congress is playing the politics of accusation to divert the people’s attention from real issues,” she adds.

Raje strongly refutes Gehlot’s charges and dubs them a mere election stunt. She contends that the Congress should have either raised the issue when in the Opposition or taken up the matter with the Lok Ayukta. “The Congress regime has failed to come out with anything concrete to corroborate the allegations its leaders are parroting day and night,” she avers while accusing Gehlot of crossing limits while speaking.

“He has branded our government corrupt without any facts. He alleged that the number of rape and murder cases had gone up during my time but he could not prove it. He has nothing to say on development,” she adds. Like Gehlot, Raje doesn’t forget to take potshots at the Congress regime and often begins her rallies by asking the electorate as to how well they were managing in the “troubled times” of the Gehlot government.

Standing in a serpentine queue and braving the heat to cast vote is not something new to Parvatiben Naranbhai Patel.

At the age of 100, she is perhaps the only woman in the country who has been exercising her franchise since 1952, when she cast her vote in the first parliamentary elections. “I know the value of my vote and have been exercising this right in the elections to Parliament, Assembly and local bodies since 1952. 

I have not missed my voting in any of the elections so far,” she said on April 30. She vividly remembers the freedom struggle and the role played by Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose and others in achieving independence from the British rule.