Hathin belies tall govt claims of development

The Hathin constituency saw political turmoil in March this year when its sitting MLA Kehar Singh Rawat, who had got elected on INLD ticket in 2014, announced a change in political loyalties. He joined the BJP on March 25, after resigning from the state Assembly. Rawat was earlier in the spotlight when he sat on a dharna in September 2017 in protest against the poor supply of water for irrigation to the region.

Hathin, one of the oldest Assembly segments, came into existence in 1967. In 2014 poll, Rawat (with INLD at that time) defeated his main rival Harsh Kumar of the BJP by 6,372 votes. Interestingly, Harsh switched over to the JJP this year while Rawat joined the BJP. 

“The segment has failed to get its dose of development despite tall claims made by those in power,” says Yasveer Dagar, an advocate from Kishorpur village in the constituency. “There are no jobs for highly qualified youths, and migration to other parts of the state or the country is the only option left,” he claims, adding that power supply has worsened as villagers don’t get even four hours of continuous supply in a day.

Azmat, a shopkeeper in Hathin, says poor civic conditions in the main town are perhaps an indicator of the level of progress in the segment, which has 122 villages. “The shortage of drinking water is one of the most pressing problems as in many villages women have to spend several hours a day on fetching water,” says Mohammed Haroon of Malai village. The bus stand that came up in 2007 is also lying non-operational, another local complains. 

Representative speak  

Several hundred crores have been spent on the all-round development in the past five years. The projects taken up or completed include Ranneywell water augmentation scheme for 30 villages, 16 new roads and improvement in power supply from six to seven hours to 15 to 16 hours daily in the segment  Kehar Singh Rawat, ex-INLD MLA, now with BJP

Opposition speak  

Hathin has been ignored completely in the past five years. It continues to remain one of the most backward areas of Haryana in all sectors. The protest undertaken by Kehar Singh (outgoing representative) against the irregular water supply in September 2017 speaks volumes on the claims about development.  Harsh Kumar, ex-BJP leader, now with JJP

Total voters    2,07,023 

1,13,438 Men

93,585 Women

Likely Contenders: BJP: Kehar Singh Rawat, Jawahar Singh Sorot, Col. Rajender Rawat, Cong: Israel Chaudhary, Azmat Khan, Mohammed Bilal, JJP: Harsh Kumar