Mahendragarh: Crossing Jhajjar, Kosli, Karoli on the Narnaul road, we reached Mahendragarh late in the night. While basic necessities like a chemist shop or a food joint were nowhere to been seen, every 10 steps had a shop offering 'desi daru (liquor)'.
The constituency lacks 24x7 electricity and drinking water, too, is in short supply. There are no street lights in several areas. "We are getting electricity now since it is the election time. Otherwise there is a lot of power shortage in the area," said a shopkeeper.
Mahendragarh is witnessing a tough battle between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The sitting Congress MLA Rao Dan Singh won the seat in the 2009 polls and is now fighting to retain the seat against BJP's Ramvilas Sharma.
While the BJP exuded confidence of snatching the seat from Congress, the latter brushed aside any claims that the party is facing a tough fight.
Riding on the development agenda, the Congress claims that Rao Dan Singh has done a lot for the constituency. "There are over 40 schools, world class colleges. The HUDA (Haryana Urban Development Authority) park that we have built here is better than any of the parks that can be seen in any part of the country. Even Chandigarh's parks do not stand a chance against the park here," claimed Akhil Bharatiya Congress Mahasamiti member Deshbandhu Kaushik.
The BJP, on the other hand, claimed that it will be able to win the maximum number of seats in the 90-member Assembly. "Like Modiji won with a majority in the Lok Sabha polls, we will also win in the Assembly elections in Haryana. We have full confidence in the voters," a BJP member said in his office in Mahendragarh.
BJP workers claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent rally in Mahendragarh was an indication of how good the party's standing is in the elections. "Modi is doing good work at the Centre. He has talked about development. We also want development for the state," a resident said.
Kaushik though said that the exit of Gurgaon's sitting MP Rao Inderjeet Singh from the Congress will definitely have an impact on the results in the district. "This region is known for its caste politics. With Rao Inderjeet Singh joining the BJP, his vote share will also go to the BJP. It is only because of this that there is a neck and neck fight otherwise this is a sure-shot seat for Congress," he said.
Meanwhile, pondering over state politics, Kaushik added that the fight is a close contest between the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal for power. "The fight is only between the Congress and the INLD. We might get 30-35 and the INLD too will nearly get the same share. It will be seen on who will get more," the Congress leader said.
"It is on the Central government direction that the Om Prakash Chautala has been sent to jail. The move by the Centre has had a negative impact on us. It will cut our vote share as a lot of sympathy votes will go to the INLD," he added.
Recently, Rao Dan Singh was served notice by the Election Commission for cruelty to animals during his election campaign. He had allegedly rode a camel during the campaigning and it was also claimed that horses were handled using banned thorn bits.
While most seats in Haryana is witnessing a tough fight between the INLD, the Congress and the BJP, Mahendragarh is a tough fight betweent BJP and Congress.
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