Jindal vs Sushil, the contest to watch for in Kurukshetra

Nitish Sharma

Kurukshetra, May 24

Over 17.94 lakh people in the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency will decide the fate of 31 candidates who are in the fray from the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha Constituency, on Saturday.

Of the total eligible voters, over 9.40 lakh are male, over 8.53 lakh voters are women and 24 voters registered as the third gender.

The Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency comprises nine Assembly constituencies of Kurukshetra (Ladwa, Shahabad, Thanesar and Pehowa), Kaithal (Guhla, Kalayat, Kaithal and Pundri), and the Radaur Assembly constituency of Yamunanagar district.

As per the data, the Kaithal constituency has the maximum 2.19 lakh voters followed by Kalayat (2.14 lakh), Thanesar (2.14 lakh), Radaur (2.08 lakh), Ladwa (1.95), Guhla (1.92 lakh), Pundri (1.92 lakh), Pehowa (1.86 lakh) and Shahabad (1.71 lakh).

Over 37,140 young voters will be exercising their franchise for the first time. A total of 1,848 polling stations have been established at 1,057 locations for the convenience of the voters.

With 31, this is the highest number of candidates in fray in Kurukshetra for the Lok Sabha polls since 1977. It was back in 1989, when a maximum of 28 candidates had contested from the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat.

Among 31 candidates, some high-profile candidates, including BJP’s Naveen Jindal, AAP state chief and INDIA bloc candidate Sushil Gupta, and INLD’s secretary general Abhay Singh Chautala are testing their fates. Naveen Jindal has represented the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency twice in the past and he is eyeing the third term. Of the total candidates, only one woman candidate Patasho Devi is in the fray.

Meanwhile, four model polling stations, each manned by women employees, youth employees and PwD employees, have been established in the Kurukshetra district.

District Election Officer Kurukshetra Shantanu Sharma said, “All arrangements have been made to ensure a peaceful and fair election. In Kurukshetra district, 7.96 lakh people are eligible to use their franchise. The polling parties have been dispatched. Ample security arrangements have been made along with 3,888 polling staff, 1,440 police personnel, 948 home guards and four units of Central armed police forces have been deployed. Directions have been issued to the officials to discharge their duties with dedication.”