Dhankar faces stiff challenge from Cong, JJP nominees
BADLI (JHAJJAR) : Haryana agriculture minister Om Prakash Dhankar faces a stiff challenge from Congress’ Kuldeep Vats, a Brahmin, and Sanjay Kablana, a Jat candidate fielded by the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) in this rural constituency.
Dhankar, 58, who is BJP’s prominent Jat face, also hopes to get the support of non-Jat voters due to the ruling party’s influence among them.
He had shifted to Badli seat from Charkhi Dadri in 2014. He was national president of BJP’s Kisan Morcha for two terms.
A first-time MLA, Dhankar claims to have provided canal water to 1,100 of the 1,400 canal tail-ends across the state, besides having made Badli a sub-division.
He also claims credit for construction of roads in all villages, better infrastructure in schools, colleges and hospitals in the constituency.
“Agar tum raaj mein hissedari chahte ho, thari jo Chandigarh mein kothi hai, jo har vaqt khuli rehati hai, use rakhna chahte ho to mujhe is baar bhi support karna,” he tells voters assuring them that by supporting him, they would continue to have their say in the government and claim over the bungalow (his official residence) in Chandigarh.
Congress’ Vats, 49, had mustered over 32,000 votes in this constituency in the 2014 assembly elections as an independent candidate, but lost to Dhankar by a margin of about 9,000 votes.
Jats, who is close to former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, also hopes to garner Brahmin and other non-Jat votes in this segment.
Jhajjar, like other adjoining districts, is said to be a stronghold of Hooda, hence advantage to Vats.
“The BJP government has failed to bring development to Badli, which faces acute shortage of drinking and irrigation water, besides having poor infrastructure. My main focus will be on creating avenues to generate employment for the youth in Badli,” Vats says at his rallies urging voters to change the government.
Jannayak Janta Party’s Kablana, on the other hand, claims backing of Jats of Gulia gotra, who have predominance in about 30 villages. Like his father Om Prakash, he was also associated with the Congress earlier.
He later joined the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and switched loyalty to its splinter outfit JJP last year. He, too, has backing of Jats, besides the JJP support base.
Pritam Singh, a Kablana supporter, says that the people of the segment have seen the non-performance of both the Congress and BJP MLAs and had thus shifted to the INLD earlier and now to the JJP.
In his election meetings, Kablana highlights the JJP’s poll promises, especially Rs 5,100 old age pension and 75% reservation in jobs.
The INLD has fielded Mahavir Gulia who is party’s state executive committee member.