Political Mahabharata on cards in Kurukshetra
Nitish Sharma
Kurukshetra, May 21
The land of Mahabharata is witnessing a battle of sorts with the only AAP candidate in Haryana Sushil Gupta supported by Congress locked in a close contest with BJP’s Naveen Jindal in Kurukshetra.
The AAP had bagged the seat in a seat-sharing agreement with the Congress and fielded its state chief Sushil Gupta. The AAP has linked the General Election to the battle of Mahabharata and dubbed it to be a war between ‘dharma’ and ‘adharma’.
While the AAP with its tactical manoeuvers is aiming to win the election with the support of Congress, new equations are being witnessed, with former Congress MP Naveen Jindal contesting the election on the BJP’s ticket, and INLD secretary general Abhay Chautala contesting a battle of prestige and challenging Naveen Jindal and Sushil Gupta with the support of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni) chief Gurnam Singh and other regional leaders.
The Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat has been represented by leaders of the Saini community six times and Jindal family thrice in 12 elections since 1977. Of the previous four elections, while two elections (2004 and 2009) were won by Naveen Jindal on the Congress ticket, the 2014 and 2019 elections were won by Raj Kumar Saini and Nayab Saini, respectively, on the BJP ticket.
As Nayab Singh Saini is a strong leader from the OBC community, by elevating him as the Chief Minister, the BJP has further strengthened its vote bank. However, to make a dent in the BJP’s vote bank, the JJP has fielded its candidate Pala Ram, who belongs to the Saini community. A couple of more candidates, including advocate Pradeep Saini of the Rashtriya Garib Dal, and Independent candidate Jai Kumar Saini belonging to the community, are also testing their fates.
While both — the INDIA bloc and the INLD — have been slamming the BJP over the issues of unemployment, illegal immigration, rising drug menace, MSP, healthcare facilities and roads, the BJP has prepared its ‘vision document’ for the development of Kurukshetra after taking suggestions from the residents and promising skill development institutes, better healthcare and education facilities and strengthening of road infrastructure.
Since the AAP is contesting on only one seat in Haryana, the party has gone full throttle to give tough time to the BJP in Kurukshetra. Not only AAP’s senior leaders like Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and Sanjay Singh, but the Congress leaders like former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Ashok Arora have sought votes for Sushil Gupta multiple times during the campaigning so far.
The AAP is planning to bring Arvind Kejriwal back on May 23 to make the final appeal.
Fight between ‘Dharma’, ‘Adharma’
We are witnessing a ‘dharma’ yudh in Kurukshetra. It is certain from the very first day that the ‘dharma’ will win and the ‘adharma’ will be defeated. The same thing happened in the war of Mahabharata. The Pandavas — represented by INDIA bloc — will win the election and the Kauravas — represented by the BJP — will face defeat. — Anurag Dhanda, senior vice-president, AAP, Haryana
AAP directionless, misleading people
AAP has no agenda and direction, and its leaders are trying to misguide people. Instead of talking about ‘dharma’ and ‘adharma’, they should talk about the real issues. They have been spreading misinformation to get votes. People are intelligent and they will not get trapped in the propaganda by AAP and other INDIA bloc partners. — Ravi Battan, Kurukshetra BJP chief
