Water shortage, poor rural roads main issues in Kutlehar bypoll

Rajesh Sharma

Una, May 29

Kutlehar, historically a BJP bastion, is geographically the biggest and the most scattered Assembly segment population wise in Una district due to its vast hilly terrain.

For decades, the people of the segment have been pressing political parties to address issues like drinking water shortage in villages located on the Sola Singi and Ramgarh Dhar hill ranges, metalling of link roads in villages, sprucing up health and educational infrastructure and the lack of irrigation facilities.

The constituency lacks a good road network and hence candidates and their supporters are forced to walk in sweltering heat for door-to-door campaigning. The BJP and the Congress are evenly poised in the constituency and a keen contest is expected.

Key stats

Total voters: 89,307

Male: 45,617 

Female: 43,689

As Kutlehar is mostly hilly, tapping underground water in most parts of the segment is not feasible. Also, repeated announcements by the authorities concerned to build check dams to store rainwater or lay pipelines from the Gobind Sagar dam for drinking water and irrigation purposes have not materialised.

The Congress had never won the Assembly elections from Kutlehar from 1990 to 2022. It was Davinder Kumar Bhutto who broke the 32-year-old jinx and won the seat for the Congress in the 2022 elections. The BJP had won the seat six consecutive times in 29 years while Ranjit Singh of the Janata Dal had remained MLA for three years.

This time, the fight is mainly between BJP candidate Davinder Bhutto and Congress candidate Vivek Sharma. Vivek had lost the 2017 Assembly elections to BJP’s Virender Kanwar from the Kutlehar seat. Bhutto had joined the BJP after resigning from the Assembly as an MLA. Though there are two Independent candidates in the fray, the real contest is between the BJP and the Congress.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi at a rally at Kutlehar recently had accused the BJP of trying to wrest power in the state through money power, disrespecting the people’s mandate. General voters are also echoing same sentiments. They are talking about the Central Government not giving adequate financial assistance to the state to mitigate losses suffered in the aftermath of the rain disaster last year and the Congress government restoring the old pension scheme for its employees.

BJP leaders are toeing the line that development witnessed in the country during the 10-year rule of Narendra Modi would continue only if the party comes to power at the Centre as well as in the state. They highlight development works and Central welfare schemes like Ayushman Bharat and the Ujjwala Yojana to seek votes.