Narsingh Shorgar, 28, who sells sugar cane juice on the Sirsa-Delhi National Highway, reflects the changing political dynamics in the Sirsa Lok Sabha constituency on the Haryana-Punjab border.
The constituency, one of the two reserved for the Scheduled Castes in Haryana, was won by Charanjeet Singh Rori of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in the 2014 election. In the Assembly election, too, held after a few months of the Lok Sabha election, the INLD won eight of the nine seats in Sirsa.
Voters like Mr. Shorgar were not only supporters but also active workers of the party. But now, the INLD is a divided house and a new splinter group, the Jananayak Janata Party (JJP), has come up, dividing loyal party workers and supporters.
‘Fighting families’
“When they can’t resolve the fight within the family [between the sons of former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala], how can they solve voters’ problems,” Mr. Shorgar asked. He said the fight in this election was between the Congress and the BJP.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi gave a push to his party’s nominee in Sirsa by campaigning for him on Thursday, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the State on Friday.
At Geela Khera village of Fatehabad, barely 20 km from Sirsa town, Congress candidate Ashok Tanwar, who is the State Congress chief, focusses on a separate budget for farmers and the party’s proposal to offer minimum income guarantee or Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY).
“Our government, headed by Sardar Manmohan Singh ji and guided by Sonia Gandhi ji , spared no effort to bring prosperity to villages, and farmers were happy,” said Mr. Tanwar, who represented the constituency between 2009 and 2014.
“Once again, Rahul ji [Congress president Rahul Gandhi] has promised a separate budget for farmers, and [the] Nyay [scheme] where poor families will receive ₹72,000 a year,” he said.
The reference to Sardar Manmohan Singh is not without a reason. Of the nearly 18 lakh voters in this constituency, about 7.5 lakh are from the SC community, many of whom are Dalit Sikhs. There are also about 1.8 lakh Jat Sikhs, apart from a substantial Punjabi-speaking population.
With over 3 lakh votes, Jats form the next biggest chunk after the SCs, and have traditionally voted for the INLD. But that could change in this election after the INLD split.
Violence aftermath
Another important factor is the role played by the Dera Sacha Sauda, a religious sect with headquarters in Sirsa. Dera supporters, believed to be around 1.5 lakh, have often tilted the scales on the direction of their chief Ram Rahim Insaan, who is now serving a jail term after being convicted in a murder case.
Many of his supporters blame the BJP government in the State for his troubles and their anger could dictate their voting. There are reports of Mr. Tanwar attending a prayer session at the Dera as well.
“We don’t use religious sentiments for political gains ... I think, politically, we should stay away from the Deras,” he said, denying reports that he was seeking support from the Dera.
But the Congress chief squarely blamed the BJP government for the violence during the arrest of Ram Rahim. “ Premi s (Dera followers) are also voters and if they feel that they have been victims of violence, then it will be reflected in how they vote,” he told The Hindu in an exclusive interview.
When pointed out that it was the Dera followers who had unleashed violence at Panchkula and Sirsa, he put the blame on the government. “The BJP deliberately allowed the violence to happen and allowed innocent people to gather. Some miscreants ignited the violence,” he said, taking care not to directly blame the Dera followers for the violence.
The BJP, however, was confident of bucking the trend of not winning this seat, even during the Modi wave in 2014. Party candidate Sunita Duggal, a former Revenue Service official, focusses on key issues such as water for drinking and irrigation and fighting drug addiction among her poll priorities.
“We are confident that this time, the lotus [the BJP’s symbol] will bloom here,” she told The Hindu , just before stepping out for another day of hectic campaigning.
