Infighting in Congress poses hurdles in Sirsa

Sirsa (Haryana), May 4, 2009: Congress nominee Ashok
Tanwar is striving to harness youth power to light up his poll
prospects here but bickering within the party, coupled with
the outsider tag, may dent his chances of victory.
The Congress preferred 33-year old Tanwar to sitting MP
Atma Singh Gill, giving rise to discontent among party ranks
and files.
Tanwar will now be battling against Haryana Janhit
Congress (HJC) candidate Rajendra Prasad Dhanak and INLD's
Sita Ram for the polls on May 7.
The Congress nominee, who is also the youngest president
of the Indian Youth Congress, now banks on youth power to push
him through it. Youths have come out in large number from even
neighbouring areas to campaign for Tanwar.
"I have never seen youngsters in such large numbers. It
is good to see that young blood is also coming into politics,"
said Vimal, a first-time voter.
However, the Opposition is unimpressed by the show and
says the so-called support on the street are merely a charade
and will vanish after the elections.
Indian National Lok Dal's Sita Ram said apart from being
an outsider, Tanwar will also lose because of the infighting
between him and current Lok Sabha member Atma Singh Gill.
"He (Tanwar) is an inappropriate candidate. First of all,
he does not hail from here. Secondly, Gill's supporters will
not back him, as their leader has been denied the ticket
because of Tanwar," Sita Ram said.
HJC candidate Dhanak, too, targets Tanwar. "He is an
outsider. He does not know the problems of local people. He is
new to national politics," Dhanak said.
However, Tanwar shrugged off the outsider tag. "Let them
(rivals) say what they want to. Time will give them a
befitting reply.... If voted to power, my effort will be to
make this city number 1 in terms of educational, medical and
infrastructural supremacy," he said.
The Congress contender originally hails from Jhajjar
district under the Rohtak Lok Sabha constituency.
On his part, the INLD's Sita Ram promises security and
good governance to people if voted to power. Most of the other
candidates, including Tanwar, are also seeking votes on the
promise that they will develop basic infrastructure and
educational facilities here.
Sirsa is also the headquarters of Dera Sacha Sauda of
Gurmeet Ram Rahim. Dera has substantial influence on the
electorate here and all parties are trying to get its support.
There are 13.10 lakh voters in Sirsa, who will exercise
their franchise on May 7 when all the 10 constituencies in the
state go to polls.