Page 41 - 31MAY2019E

general elections

formance during the five years. Chief government at centre- with or without talks of Essential Commodities Act, a
Minister Khattar when took charge, had Modi- can also be a deciding factor”, told separate budget on agriculture to bring
announced a cotton cluster in the cot- a voter. transparency and schemes for the mar-
ton growing belt of Haryana spread Unemployment is a very big issue in ginalised farmers can attract the voters.
across the districts of Sirsa and Hisar. Haryana and was one of the prime rea- But more would depend on the skills of
It is a long standing demand of the sons for the Jat agitation. Over the years, the parties on creating communication
industry as the cotton cultivation in the the size of the landholdings in the state bridges with the voters. Haryana voter,
state has grown by leaps and bound has shrunk and remuneration in agri- he said, is straight forward and would
in the past few years but due to better culture has not increased in proportion welcome the debates on local issues by
incentives in the neighbouring Rajas- to the investment. The newly formed political parties.
than, the ginning industry has flour- JJP (Jananayak Janata Party) found by The farmer leader Guni prakash
ished there. Haryana produces 30 the Chautala scion Dushyant Chautala Falgu told that they may sensitise the
lakh bales of cotton every year but in December 2018 may touch a chord farmers to press NOTA for ballot in the
consumes only 3 lakh bales. According with the young voters in some parts of assembly elections as no political party
to Sushil Mittal, President of Haryana Haryana. The Congress Spokesperson raised the farmers’ issue in Lok Sabha
Ginning Millers’ Association, the mar- Randeep Surjewala is also seen as a polls. He added that if their attitude
ket fee on cotton in Haryana is 2.80 per young face to reach out the voters. remains the same during assembly poll
cent against 1.60 per cent in Rajasthan. In Haryana, the caste equations mat- as well farmers will use NOTA to teach
At the same time, it is only 0.80 per cent them the importance of poor voters in
for the new units established for first a democracy. “Few farmers have chose
five years in Rajasthan. Khattar govern- During the last NOTA on 12th May in Haryana and we
ment announced a complete waiver can sense this matters to the political
of market fee for five years for new assembly elections, players. So we may exercise this option
ginning mills. A couple of new ginning the BJP surprised in a more organised way to declare the
mills were put up in Haryana in the elections null and void if our problems
wake of this incentive but the notifica- everybody by winning are not addressed to”, he added.
tion for that has not come yet. Some of 47 seats in Haryana, Puneet Singh, a progressive farmer
them knocked the door of courts and from Ambala, told that the Lok Sabha
are now fighting legal battle. gaining a clear Elections were like a dress rehearsal
Industry in Haryana is languishing, majority. INLD had for the political parties. The brigade of
one due to overall slowdown and sec- MLAs (Members of Legislative Assem-
ond, due to own policies of the state. to eat a humble pie blies), that approached the voters for
The slowdown in auto industry has with 19 seats and was candidates for Lok Sabha, simultane-
badly hit the business of ancillary units ously solicited votes for the upcoming
in auto cluster of Gurugram and a slack ranked second assembly elections. The ruling party
demand has resulted in job cuts. in Haryana may capitalize the few
The real estate sector that had weeks from model code of conduct to
become a major growth driver in ter a lot. There are some Jat dominated announce projects and gather publicity.
Haryana due to its proximity to areas especially the districts of Rohtak, Social media has also played a crucial
National Capital and proposed pro- Jind, Bhiwani and Sonepat. Whereas role even in the hinterland and helped
jects on National Highway 1 also regis- Gurgaon and Faridabad have voters shape the minds of voters.
tered retardation in the last few years. with a mix of caste and cultural back- The successive governments have
Agriculture is already marred with grounds. Punjabi voters are counted failed to rationally exploit the natural
issues like growing cost of inputs (seeds, in districts like Karnal, Panchkula and endowments and entrepreneurial skills
fertilizers, pesticides, diesel etc), de- pockets in the vicinity. of people of Haryana. Haryanavis have
pleting water table and rising debt of The President of Bhartiya Kisan done the nation proud by sending their
farmers. Union Bhupinder Singh Mann told boys in defence services and excelling
So the voter in Haryana is not likely that farmers would wish to vote for in international sports. In the forth-
to give another chance to the ruling those who think in favour of farmers. coming elections, the wit and valour
party. “The issues in assembly elec- The incumbent government failed to of the people this state could be a chal-
tions differ from those in Parliamen- fulfil promises. A half-hearted imple- lenge for the political contenders who
tary elections. Local issues carry too mentation of schemes like Crop Insur- envisage winning only with the help of
much weight in assembly elections. The ance, Bhavantar Yojna and many other propaganda.
result of Lok Sabha election may also schemes has eroded the confidence of
cast a shadow on the mood of voters. A farmers. The manifesto of Congress that letters@tehelka.com

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