RANDHIR S KAPRIWAS, 73, BJP

REWARI

Educational qualification: Graduate MLA’s electoral record: The first-time MLA started off as a progressive farmer and became a social activist. He was associated with yoga guru Baba Ramdev and ran Jan Jagrati Manch to tackle social ills. He lost the 2005 and 2009 assembly polls.

I have worked tirelessly to develop my constituency, which had languished during previous regimes. I got the construction of circular road completed, set up degree colleges and upgraded the Rewari hospital.

Constituency primer: The Rewari assembly seat is dominated by the Yadav community. It was a major centre of revolt in 1857, also known as the first war of independence. The segment plays a key role in the politics of south Haryana and is also home to the royal family whose lineage is traced to Rao Tula Ram. As per the 2019 poll data, the segment has 2,30,216 voters.

Electoral history: 2014: Kapriwas defeated his nearest rival Satish Yadav of INLD by 45,466 votes

2009: Ajay Singh Yadav (Cong) defeated INLD’s Satish by 13,288 votes 2005: Ajay Yadav (Cong) defeated Kapriwas of BJP by 12,779 votes

How he performed: Kapriwas joined the BJP in 2003, preferring the party’s nationalist ideology. He fought elections four times but lost by a small

Bytheway: margin. He referred to his 2014 win as ‘people’s debt on him’. He is credited with the upgrade of power infrastructure, improving canal water distribution and building link roads in villages. “A large number of youngsters received government jobs in a transparent manner, which was unheard of earlier,” he asserts.

He was in the navy which he left in 1966 to embrace his agricultural roots