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Development takes a backseat

The memory of Mumbai terrorist attack must be still fresh in your minds.

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Sushil Manav in Chandigarh

The memory of Mumbai terrorist attack must be still fresh in your minds. When terrorists from Pakistan entered Mumbai and killed 165 persons and injured 300 others, the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh was in power. But it did nothing to avenge the attack on our citizens. But when terrorists from across the border attacked our soldiers at Pulwama, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not waste even a minute and ordered the security forces to give a befitting reply. It was due to Modi’s stern policy on national security that the Indian Air Force conducted airstrikes at Balakot within hours.” This is an excerpt from a speech by Sanjay Bhatia, BJP candidate from the Karnal Lok Sabha seat. He is addressing a public meeting in Kalampura village of his constituency. He is trying to drive home the message as to why it is important to bring Narendra Modi back.

“It was due to Modi’s influence that Pakistan had to return Wing Commander Abhinandan within 24 hours. Had it not done so, India would have wiped off Pakistan from the world’s map the next day,” he adds amid applause.

Similarly, Arvind Sharma, BJP candidate from Rohtak, tells voters that till Modi is at the helm, no terrorist can dare to enter our country and carry out terrorist activities.

Issues of development or lack of it have taken a backseat in these parliamentary polls, while the BJP is trying to make nationalism a major poll issue. They are apparently succeeding as the issue seems to be finding resonance among the electorate.

“We need a PM who can safeguard our frontiers and give a befitting reply in case our neighbouring country tries to indulge in some misadventure. Modi has shown he is the one in whose hands our country is safe. He is also going to kill terrorists after taking them out of their hideouts within or outside the country,” says Ashok Kumar, a shopkeeper at Kaithal in Kurukshetra parliamentary constituency.

The BJP candidates also accuse the Congress of speaking the language of Pakistan, and that of the terrorists.

“When the IAF carried the air strikes, both Pakistan and the Congress were demanding proof,” say the BJP leaders.

The achievements that BJP candidates highlight are the PM Kisan Yojna, Ayushman Bharat, increasing MSP of crops to make it one-and-a-half times the input costs, transparency in recruitment, etc.

The Congress and other opposition parties counter the BJP by describing the Rs 2,000 being given under the PM-Kisan scheme as peanuts and are accusing the ruling party of backtracking on the promise of implementation of the Swaminathan report.

Besides countering the BJP on the issue of nationalism, the Congress is also promising to bring about a change with NYAY,  the Nyuntam Ayay Yojna. 

“The BJP does not have any right to tell us which party is more nationalistic. People of the country know that two of our former Prime Ministers, who were from the Congress, sacrificed their lives for the countrywhile fighting terrorism,” says Kuldeep Sharma, Congress candidate in Karnal.

Sharma also explains that once the Congress comes to power, all poor families will get Rs 72,000 per annum under the NYAY scheme.

Caste has always been an important factor in elections in Haryana, but this time there many be complete polarisation of votes on caste lines, fear political observers.

“The Jat quota violence in February 2016 has left a deep chasm between the Jats and other castes in Haryana, damaging the social fabric of the state badly. Mayoral elections in Rohtak, Panipat, Karnal, Hisar and Yamunanagar and a byelection held at the Jind Assembly seat showed that voters were divided on the lines of caste,” say political analysts. They maintain that since the polarisation of votes suits the BJP, its leaders are leaving no stone unturned to make it a reality.

Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is contesting from Sonepat, and his son Deepender Singh Hooda, Congress candidate from Rohtak, are trying to make “Rohtak-Sonepat Ki Chaudhar” (bringing CM’s chair back to Rohtak and Sonepat districts)  a key issue in these elections.

“Hoodas — both father and son — are not pitted against BJP candidates Ramesh Kaushik and Arvind Sharma, respectively, at Sonepat and Rohtak but they are actually contesting elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As candidates, Kaushik and Sharma stand nowhere near the stature of Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Deepender Hooda, but people who are to vote for the BJP, are voting for Modi not for them,” say sources.

Political observers maintain that the Hoodas know that the only way to counter the Modi factor is to make it a fight for “Rohtak-Sonepat Ki Chaudhar”. So much so that Hooda has been telling people during his campaign that his election to the Lok Sabha from Sonepat will pave the way for Chief Minister’s chair in Chandigarh via Delhi.

He is citing the example of his 2005 win  when he was selected by the Congress leadership to head the government in Haryana. Hooda had won the parliamentary elections in 2004 and was MP from the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat when the Congress won the 2005 Assembly elections with a comfortable majority.

“Many in Rohtak and Sonepat have enjoyed the fruits of Hooda’s tenure in Haryana from 2005 to 2014. By making Rohtak-Sonepat Ki Chaudhar as a key factor, the Hoodas are trying to offset the Modi factor,” the sources maintain. 

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