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Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service
Jind, January 20
Traffic chaos welcomes you the moment you enter Jind from the Hansi side via the railway overbridge near Patiala chowk. At the Patiala chowk crossing, a lone cop manages heavy traffic flow. Inside the town, traffic moves at a snail’s pace as shopkeepers sit idle on both sides of the road.
Ask someone who will win the high-profile poll and people smile, but don’t give an inkling of what is there in their minds. “Dekhte hain, abhi to kayi din baaki hain (Let’s see, there are many days to go for the poll),” is the common reply.
“Urban voters do not generally reveal what is in their minds during the elections. In contrast, the rural populace do not hesitate in declaring openly whom they are going to vote for and support,” says the poll manager of a candidate.
In between the noise of horns of slow-moving vehicles, one hears another noise from a vehicle making appeals to vote for BJP candidate Krishan Middha on the public announcement system. The area is Dayalbagh Colony, where Middha’s clinic is located.
Krishan Middha is not as social as his father Hari Chand Middha, say locals. The BJP nominee hopes to get a good share of votes from Jind town though the urban voters are, by and large, silent so far.
Like the BJP nominee, Congress candidate Randeep Surjewala hopes to get a good share of votes from Jind town. If Middha hopes to get a majority of Punjabi votes, Surjewala has high hopes from Agarwals and Brahmins though MP Raj Kumar Saini’s Loktantra Suraksha Party’s nominee Vinod Ashree is also a Brahmin.
The Jind bypoll has become a high-profile election largely because of Surjewala’s decision to contest the election. No one expected Surjewala to be fielded by his party in the bypoll and his candidature had brought warring factions of the party together on a single platform.
Union Minister Birender Singh, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and his Cabinet colleagues Capt Abhimanyu, Ram Bilas Sharma, Krishan Bedi and Manish Grover have campaigned for Middha. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, his son Deepender Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja, Kiran Choudhry, state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar and former minister Sampat Singh are among those who have campaigned for Surjewala.
Moving out of town, one finds voters quite vocal about their choice of candidates. In INLD nominee Umed Redhu’s Lochab village, people are confident of his victory.
“The JJP of Dushyant Chautala is a bachcha party and Digvijay and Randeep Surjewala are outsiders,” says Rajesh, a local resident.
In Intal Kalan, flags of the JJP are seen in large numbers in Jat-dominated areas though those of the INLD and Congress can also be spotted. In non-Jat areas, BJP flags are seen in large numbers. “We are with Dushyant because he was wrongly ousted from the INLD,” said a villager outside a tea shop in Intal Kalan.
Like this villager, supporters of Surjewala, Redhu and Middha have their reasons for supporting their respective candidates and they don’t mince words to make their choice known to outsiders.
Making a pitch
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