In Karnal, hubbies come in handy for candidates

Parveen Arora

The high voltage election campaign for the prestigious mayoral seat of the Karnal Municipal Corporation ended on Friday. The fate of eight mayoral candidates and 95 candidates for councillors’ post will be sealed in EVMs on December 16. The husbands of the two main contenders for the Mayor’s seat have also been working tirelessly to ensure the victory of their wives. 

The Mayor’s post in Karnal city is reserved for women. The candidates without caring for their health devoted 16 to 18 hours every day to campaigning and making election strategies.

According to a survey, the main competition is between BJP candidate Renu Bala Gupta, and Independent candidate Asha Wadhwa, who is being supported by the INLD-BSP alliance and some Congress leaders. They are locked in a neck-and-neck fight.

To know the daily routine of the candidates, The Tribune interacted with the candidates. “I used to sleep around 1 am, and wake up around 4 am. After doing some yoga, I got ready for my daily plan,” says former Mayor and BJP candidate Renu Bala Gupta.

She says that she addressed 30 to 35 public meeting every day and also did door-to-door campaigning in various areas to ensure maximum interaction with people.

“I sought votes from residents for the works I have done under the leadership of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in the city in the past four and a half years. I drank lukewarm water to avoid a sore throat during campaigning and avoided having tea,” she says.

“I used to end campaigning around 11.30 pm. Then I discussed the next day’s strategy with my party leaders and husband Brij Gupta,” adds Renu Bala.

On the other hand, Asha Wadhwa also gave her best to her campaign. “I and my husband Manoj Wadhwa campaigned separately and at several functions we jointly addressed people. It is my first election, though I had managed two elections that my husband had fought; first of the civic body and then the Assembly election against Manohar Lal Khattar. So, I am not new to the situation,” she says.

“I woke up around 4 am and started campaigning around 6 am. I used to have little breakfast and held around 30 public meetings every day, besides door-to-door campaigning,” says Asha.

“After daylong canvassing, I and my husband held meetings with our supporters and well wishers to discuss the next day's plan,” she adds.

“I am confident about my victory, as people are supporting me,” says Asha.

During campaigning, the husbands of the candidates also participated actively. Renu Bala’s husband Brij Gupta wooed voters by personally interacting with them, while Manoj Wadhwa organised public meetings; children of both candidates not to be left behind.

Independent candidate Beant Kaur, wife of former councillor Balwinder Singh, and independent candidate Komal Chandel also had the same routine.