Haryana poll: Debutant scion takes on old warhorse on Kaithal turf

It’s a fight between a debutant scion of a political dynasty and an aging warhorse for the Kaithal assembly constituency.

Congress candidate Aditya Surjewala, 25, a third-generation politician, will cut his teeth in an electoral battle with the aim to restore his family’s lost glory. He is pitted against two-time MLA Leela Ram Gujjar, 63, of the BJP.

Aditya’s father, Rajya Sabha MP and two-time MLA from Kaithal, Randeep Surjewala, narrowly lost the seat in 2019 by 1,246 votes, getting 0.79% votes less than the winner, Leela Ram Gujjar. Gujjar, a former Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader, was first elected from Kaithal in 2000. He switched sides to join the BJP in 2019 and won the seat again. Aditya’s grandfather, Shamsher Singh Surjewala, had won the Kaithal seat in 2005 during the Congress wave.

People connect

Greeted by a group of motorcycle-borne youngsters on his arrival from Patti Koth village, the Congress candidate touches the feet of elders as he gets down from his vehicle. A commerce graduate from the University of British Columbia in Canada, Aditya says his grandfather, Shamsher Singh Surjewala, used to take him to public events when he was six. “He made me observe how to interact with people, learn about them and their lives. Over time, I developed a liking to meet and interact with people and being among them,” he says after meeting a group of people at a village dhani (settlement) in the middle of paddy fields at Franswala village.

So, besides his political lineage, what made him take the electoral plunge? “I was into student politics and won the college elections. There is a sense of satisfaction I get in serving people and making their lives better. My grandfather and father have instilled these values. I have no interest in making a lot of money or having the biggest house or flashiest of cars. My aim is to be able to make people’s lives better,” the debutant says.

He says growing unemployment remains the biggest issue in Haryana. “There has been no consistent investment in areas away from Gurgaon (like Kaithal) to set up factories or office establishments. We need to stand up for the people of Haryana, who are educated and hard working. Our government will fill all two lakh government vacancies. We have a skilled workforce which needs avenues. Only when domestic and foreign investment comes to the state, will we have employment opportunities for the skilled workforce,” he says.

Community outreach

BJP candidate Gujjar, a post-graduate in political science from Kurukshetra University, arrived at a dargah (Muslim shrine) near Chandana Gate in Kaithal city late in the evening to join the devotees for a community meal. “He toils in the fields every day for three hours just to keep himself fit. It is not easy fighting the Surjewalas. He needs to maintain his fitness levels,” says an aide of Gujjar.

The BJP candidate who made a round of five villages, the last being Sanghan, before the culmination of day’s campaigning was also scheduled to take part in an ‘aarti’ at a Hanuman temple but had to skip it due to inordinate delay. “He will visit the temple the next day,” said a BJP worker.

“The BJP is contesting the assembly elections on the development plank. This includes law and order. The party has done a lot for Kaithal in the past five years. A ₹994-crore medical college is under construction in Kaithal. The chief minister has approved a mother-child care health facility in the civil hospital. We are setting up a vegetable market in 14 acres in Kaithal town. The BJP government has built roads connecting villages,” says Gujjar as he settles down to meet a family of Prajapatis (kumhars), a backward class (BC) in Haryana.

On the BJP’s strategy to appoint a BC leader, Nayab Singh Saini, as chief minister six months before the assembly elections, Gujjar, himself a BC leader, says Saini’s reign of “56 days” has been a revelation. “He is accessible, polite and affable. People can visit the CM’s residence in Chandigarh even at odd hours. His presence will be a big factor in this election,” Gujjar says.

Bitter rivalry

Attacking his rival, Gujjar claims that people of Kaithal have been misled by Congress contestants over the years. “People were made to believe that Surjewalas will ascend the chief minister’s chair one day. But it did not happen,” says the BJP candidate.

Responding to Gujjar’s remarks on his family, Aditya says that the BJP MLA has not been able to accomplish anything during his five-year tenure. “The only thing he can do now is to stoop low to make personal attacks on our family. Gujjar makes an oft-repeated excuse during his public interaction, Meri chalti nahi hai (No one in the government listens to me), the Congress candidate concludes.