Poll issue: Lack of basic infrastructure

Sandeep Rawat

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 20

Piran Kaliyar is one of the smallest Assembly constituencies in the state. The seat that came into existence in 2012 lacks basic infrastructure and civic facilities, notwithstanding the famous Sabir Pak Piran Kaliyar Dargah here. Lakhs of pilgrims from across the world arrive here to pay obeisance at the Sabir Pak dargah but still there is no good railway station and other civic amenities.

Sitting Congress MLA Furkan Ahmed is a Parliamentary Secretary in the state government. He bagged 25,870 votes and defeated Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Mohammed Shahzad, a former MLA from Bahadrabad, in the last Assembly elections. Shahzad secured 23,926 votes. BJP candidate Shyam Veer Saini came third with 21,648 votes.

Furkan is the front-runner for the Congress ticket this time too. He is banking on development works he had done in the past five years. The BJP has fielded a lesser known candidate, Jai Bhagwan Saini.

“I have been working hard for the betterment of my constituency. My achievements include several new roads, recarpeting of more than 50 roads, linking roads with agricultural fields, construction of a community rest hall, a wedding hall, opening of a degree college, a government hospital and sanctioning a bypass from Mehwad Kala till Rampur,” Furkan says. A powerhouse and a bridge on the Kaliyar Ganga Canal sanctioned recently are his other achievements, he claims.

BJP candidate Jai Bhagwan Saini is facing dissidence in the party as district party president Dr Kalpana Saini was also demanding the ticket from Piran Kaliyar. Jai Bhagwan is an RSS worker and zila panchayat member but he is not well known in the segment. He was the head of Manubans village in 2007 and became a zila panchayat member from Sohalpur Sikrauda in 2011. He lost the zila panchayat member election from Sohalpur Sikrauda in 2016 but the BJP still reposed faith in him and allotted him the ticket.

The BSP has fielded Hazi Rao from Piran Kaliyar. Rao exuded confidence at a public meeting that the BSP would emerge victorious both in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh under the able leadership of party president Mayawati.

Last time, the BSP had fielded heavyweight Mohammed Shahzad from Piran Kaliyar. Shahzad was elected MLA from the now dissolved Bahadrabad seat in the 2007 elections. He was suspended from the primary membership of the party for his alleged anti-party activities last year.

Now, Shahzad can contest the elections as an independent candidate and affect the poll prospects of other candidates, as Muslim votes will get divided.

Local resident Tanveer Ali complains that roads in Piran Kaliyar are poor and youths are not getting employment opportunities. “Furkan Ahmed has failed to ensure development in the constituency in the past few years. Water, power and sewerage need to be given priority. Transport services from Haridwar, Roorkee and Dehradun need to be improved as pilgrims visit the holy Piran Kaliyar shrine throughout the year,” says Tanveer Ali.

Piran Kaliyar comprises Gurnawala, Imlikhera, Dharampur, Mohammandpur Panda, Rampur, Dhanori, Daulatpur, Badheri Rajputa, Bhounri, Margubpur Diadaheri, Dandeir Khwajgipur, Belra, Darriyapur, Dayaalpur and a part of Roorkee tehsil. There are 109,287 voters, including 50,629 women, in the constituency.