Kaithal, Sep 13 (IANS) One of Haryana’s influential political families in its quest to further expand electoral interests has launched Congress General Secretary and party Member of Parliament Randeep Singh Surjewala’s son, Aditya Surjewala in the Assembly elections.
Aditya is the third generation in the fray from the Kaithal Assembly constituency, an urban seat with a literacy rate of over 80 per cent, that his father represented twice — 2009 and 2014 and grandfather once in 2005.
In the 2019 polls, fourth-time lawmaker Randeep lost to BJP’s Leela Ram Gujjar by a slender margin of 1,246 votes.
In 2014, he retained the seat, dominated by the Jats and Gurjars, with a massive margin of 23,675 votes.
Between 2005 and 2009, Kaithal, traditionally a stronghold of the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), was represented by his father Shamsher Singh, a veteran lawmaker who was minister thrice.
Randeep Surjewala, who was Cabinet Minister in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led government from 2005 to 2009 and 2009 to 2014, surprised many by defeating Chief Minister and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala in 1996 and 2005, both times from Narwana in Jind district.
Now young and suave the junior most Surjewala is trying his luck from the family stronghold by banking on the development carried out by his father and grandfather during their stints at the helm of the state. From Kaithal, party’s veteran Om Prakash Jain remained a legislator four times.
“A huge unemployment is a matter of concern and we have to work in this direction. We also know about the condition of roads after rains. Electricity, water and sewage are the problems facing our city. The youth of our constituency are leaving the country (for employment). We have to bring change in this regard,” Aditya told the media after filing his nomination papers on Thursday.
Focusing his campaign on development, he tells the crowd, “I can proudly say that I belong to Kaithal and the constituency is desperate for development and progress.”
Firmly believing the country needs young leaders and a beginning in this direction has been made, Aditya vows to take the grand legacy of his grandfather and father forward through welfare programmes and initiatives by ameliorating inequality.
Kaithal is a city of religious and historical importance for different communities.
His father and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala, who accompanied his son at the time of filing papers, said, “Now we have to work, work and work for the overall development of the entire Kaithal constituency.”
Riding high on its pro-incumbency and the Modi factor, the BJP believes in retaining this Assembly seat in the Kurukshetra parliamentary constituency.
Locals, however, blame the sitting BJP legislator for ignoring the constituency — an important tourism site with famous historical temples and tombs of Sufi saints, despite the party being at the helm in the state.
“There is not much development in Kaithal despite its historical importance,” remarked resident Ramesh Aggarwal, while pointing towards the sewage flowing on the streets. He said after heavy rainfall, water started to flow out of sewage manholes on main roads and streets in many localities, including posh areas.
Randeep Surjewala is credited for developing parks and stadiums, besides basic amenities and infrastructure in his constituency when his party was at the helm from 2004 to 2014.
BJP’s candidate Leela Ram defected from the INLD and joined the ruling party in 2014.
His re-entry has made the contest straight between the Jats and the Gurjars, the dominant communities. Aditya belongs to the Jat community, while Ram is a Gurjar.
The constituency has nearly 2 lakh-voter strength which includes 30,000 Jats (15 per cent) and 22,000 Gurjars (11 per cent). The other communities include the Baniyas, Dalits and the Punjabi community.
Haryana will go to the polls for the 90-member Assembly on October 5 and the counting of ballots will be held on October 8.
(Vishal Gulati can be reached at vishal.g@ians.in)
–IANS
vg/dpb
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
