“Nation comes first,” retorts Dhananjaya Mishra, a cab driver, at a taxi stand in Faridabad’s NIT assembly constituency area, when asked as to what mattered the most to him while casting his vote in the Lok Sabha election scheduled for May 12.
Elaborating, he says that the air strikes by the Indian Air Force, after the Pulwama terror attack this year, had sent across a stern message to Pakistan that India was now going to retaliate to any terror attack on its soil. “It was possible only with because of strong leadership of [Narendra] Modi. We need a leader like him at the helm,” says Mr. Dhananjaya, who had migrated to Delhi from Bihar a decade ago and settled in Faridabad. His views are echoed by many at the taxi stand.
Candidates
Spread across nine assembly constituencies of Faridabad and Palwal districts — with three each held by the BJP and the Congress — the Faridabad Lok Sabha constituency witnesses a direct contest between Congress’ Avtar Singh Bhadana and the BJP’s Krishan Pal Gurjar, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment. AAP’s Haryana unit chief Naveen Jaihind, a joint candidate of AAP and Jannayak Janta Party, adds another dimension to the contest.
With considerable support among the urban and Punjabi voters in the five assembly constituencies of Faridabad, NIT, Tigaon, Ballabgarh and Badkhal, the BJP seems to be comfortably placed against the Congress, whose prospects could be further marred by in-fighting in the party.
Not enjoying much support among the local Congress leaders, mostly said to be loyal to former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Mr. Bhadana was made the candidate from Faridabad as an afterthought after declaring Tigaon MLA Lalit Nagar, a Gurjar, as its official candidate initially. Analysts believe Mr. Bhadana’s differences with Mr. Hooda could cost him dear with the latter having a strong hold over the local politics.
Having won the 2014 Lok Sabha election defeating Mr. Bhadana, his nearest rival, with the record margin of 4.7 lakh votes, the highest in Haryana, Mr. Gurjar hopes to repeat the feat riding on the Modi wave in his constituency and claiming the credit for the development work over the past five years. In his speeches, he usually harps on the development work — the construction of roads, flyovers, completion of the KMP Expressway and expansion of metro connectivity — besides seeking votes in the name of nationalism referring to the surgical and air strikes against Pakistan. He is also helped by his image of being approachable and soft-spoken.
Mr. Bhadana, however, targets him for failing to ensure enough development in the constituency and the Prime Minister’s dismal record on employment, agrarian distress, demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax. He though scores low on credibility for first having switched over to the Indian National Lok Dal after the loss in 2014 and then to the BJP to become an MLA from Meerpur in Uttar Pradesh.
The locals, especially the urban population, point out pollution, lack of sanitation, law and order and unfulfilled promise of Smart City as some of the issues for them. “Several issues of the city remain unaddressed. Despite improvement of roads and construction of flyovers, traffic in the rush hours remains a challenge for office-goers. Moreover, the government has done little for the middle class. There is no relief from petroleum prices and high tax rate,” says Kavita Choudhry, a resident of Sector 7.
Not happy with the performance of the Modi government on the front of economy, Akshat Gupta, who runs a garments shop in Ballabgarh market, concedes that the small and marginal shopkeepers like him were hit hard by the GST and demonetisation, but adds that the Opposition has failed to inspire him as well. “I believe Mr. Modi is also helped by lack of an alternative before the electorate,” says Mr. Gupta. However, most of the shopkeepers in the market expressed faith in Mr. Modi’s leadership.
‘Biggest casualty’
The Muslim voters, who are around 1.50 lakh in number, feel that religious harmony has been the biggest casualty during Mr. Modi’s rule. Faridabad witnessed the murder of a teenage Muslim boy, Junaid, in a train over seat apart from several attacks on the community accusing them of smuggling cow and beef.
The areas such as Sanjay Colony, Parvatiya Colony, Saroorpur and parts of Ballabgarh, having a large number of small engineering units running illegally from residential areas, hit hard by demonetisation, present a mixed picture. Though many of those interviewed claimed their businesses were indeed hit by the demonetisation in 2016, they added that they would still prefer to vote for a “strong” and “decisive” government, since the coalition government could do more harm to the country’s growth.
“It is not an easy choice, but the coalition governments in the past have record of non-performance. I am going to vote for the party that can give a stable government,” said Sarvesh, who runs an engineering unit in Sanjay Colony.
