A long battle ahead for Arjun in Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra, the land of the epic Mahabharata, has an ‘Arjun’ yearning to prove himself.

In poll fray, this Arjun makes an appeal in the name of 'Dharam Yudh' in Kurukshetra between the Pandavas and Kauravas. He reminds the electorate of the ‘call of duty that brought him to fight elections’ in the land of the Mahabharata.

The outcome of election from this Lok Sabha constituency will go way beyond victory or defeat. The fourth-generation scion of the Chautala family, 26-year-old Arjun Chautala, a grandson of jailed former CM O P Chautala, is making his electoral debut from Kurukshetra.

His name might have given him some ‘mythological boost’ in the fight from Kurukshetra, yet it now boils down to his acceptability among voters.

The popularity of his party, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) led by jailed patriarch O P Chautala, is also at stake. Arjun is the only heir apparent of the estranged Chautala family in the poll fray, whose victory or defeat will determine his family’s relevance in the politics of the Jatland. His father Abhay Chautala, an MLA, was the leader of the opposition in the Vidhan Sabha till recently.

The BJP has fielded its Haryana minister in CM Khattar’s cabinet Nayab Saini from Kurukshetra while the Congress has nominated Nirmal Singh, a seasoned politician who has served as an MLA several times. Also, in poll fray is Jai Bhagwan Sharma, a former Zila Parishad member, of the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), a party created after the INLD split owing to a Chautala family feud.

The seat is dominated by members of the Jat community, Saini, Jat Sikh Punjabi and others. The BJP won it in 2014, but it cannot be complacent now. Its sitting MP, Raj Kumar Saini, turned rebel and has floated a new political outfit. The Saini and the Jat votes now will be split between the major contenders denying the BJP a decisive edge.

In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Raj Kumar Saini defeated INLD candidate by a margin of about 1.3 lakh votes. Naveen Jindal of the Congress finished third. In the last 15 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress won 8 times, while the INLD won twice in Kurukshetra.