Infighting in Congress poses hurdles in Sirsa

I / Haryana May 4, 2009, 13:31 IST

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.     

"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.

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.