Bhajan Lal battles Congress' development plank in Hisar

Hisar (Haryana), May 5, 2009:HJC contender Bhajan Lal
invokes years of association with locals, Congress candidate
Jai Prakash displays development plank while INLD nominee
Sampat Singh woos the youth, but he who can strike a balance
most prudently among these three will have the final say here.
The build-up to the polls on May 7 witnesses 78-year-old
Lal wooing his traditional support bases in his hometown of
Adampur, which has about 1.24 lakh voters, thinking that they
will help him win the race to the Lok Sabha because of his
long association with them.
"I am an old name in politics. My people know me and will
surely vote for me," he said.
Sitting MP and Congress candidate Jai Prakash is banking
on the development work done by him in the constituency. "We
have done a lot of things for people. I have helped promote
industries to bring employment for hundreds of youths apart
from effectively implementing the National Rural Employment
Guarantee scheme in rural areas. I have the support of voters
from both the urban and rural areas," he claims.
On the other hand, Singh, a former lecturer at a local
college who is contesting as an INLD-BJP alliance candidate,
bases his claims to victory on the combination of the youth
and farming community.
"Both youngsters and farmers have seen me working as a
minister and a students’ leader in the past. I have
represented them in assembly. They will surely cast their
votes in my favour," he said.
Sixty-year-old Singh, who is eyeing Lok Sabha seat for
first time, is a native of Sirsa district and has handled many
portfolios in the state government, including that of the
finance minister.
Though the BSP so far doesn’t have much influence in the
area, it has fielded its candidate Ram Dayal who is busy
exploring caste equations to pull a surprise.
"There are more than five lakh voters under the Scheduled
Castes and Other Backward Classes category who have been
suppressed by other party candidates. I feel they will vote
the BSP for the uplift of the masses and for development,"
Dayal said.
There are about 12 lakh voters in the Hisar constituency.
Polling across all ten constituencies in Haryana is scheduled
to be held on May Seven.