The Lotus has bloomed here

  • Abhishek Behl / FG
  • India
  • Oct 25, 2014

 

 

 

New' Gurgaon, which was the hub of ‘Aam Aadmi politics’ during the Lok Sabha elections, and voted almost en bloc in favour of the AAP candidate Yogendra Yadav, embraced saffron in the Assembly polls. In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP candidate, Rao Inderjit Singh, had polled 6,44,780 votes, while INLD's Zakir Hussain got 3,70,058 and AAP candidate Yogendra Yadav got 79,452 votes. Yadav, however, polled almost 27,000 votes from the Gurgaon assembly area, and it was expected that if AAP had fought the Assembly elections, it would have been a strong contender for the Gurgaon constituency. In the absence of a viable alternative to the Congress, many of these 'AAP voters’ and several others preferred to go with ‘Modi BJP’. In fact all the four seats in Gurgaon District (Gurgaon,Badshahpur, Sohna & Pataudi) have gone to the BJP. In the Gurgaon assembly constituency, BJP candidate Umesh Agarwal won by a record 84,000 votes (over his nearest rival, Gopi Chand Gehlot, of INLD). What has surprised many has been the average performance of Congress candidate Dharambir Gaba, who came a distant third.  He was expected to win, riding on the strong Punjabi vote bank of almost 70,000 votes. All the permutations and combinations of the political pundits were proved wrong - not only in Gurgaon, but across Haryana as well. It seems that people once again – even for an Assembly election – voted overwhelmingly for BJP in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Even the strong, tried and tested caste arithmetic was proven incorrect in this election, says Vijay Arora, a Congress supporter. He is rankled by the poor performance of the Congress, particularly in Gurgaon, which is considered a ‘Punjabi’ seat. Gaba, backed by this community, has won it four times - and it was because of this performance that he was given the mandate. "Punjabis did not vote for Gaba this time. When we see the voting pattern booth-wise, we realise that the BJP has won even in areas considered to be our strongholds. The people have just voted for Modi," he admits. Analysts say that the Lok Sabha polls had shown that Gurgaon, particularly the new areas, would vote BJP, and it has now been proved beyond doubt that Gurgaon has become a bastion of the Party. Meanwhile, another strong ‘belief’, that an Independent always wins from at least one seat in the District, has been belied.  

 

It had been a brave decision of Amit Shah to sever ties with the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), when the latter refused to budge from its 50-50 stand, considering that BJP had no real independent ‘standing’ in Haryana (of course, in retrospect, if he could take on the Shiv Sena in Mumbai, the HJC decision would have been a ‘cakewalk’).  Shah also stayed away from any ‘tie-up’ with INLD. With a repeat historic performance in Haryana, at Lok & Vidhan levels, Modi-Shah have proved that they are indeed mega game-changers. In many areas of ‘new’ Gurgaon, including DLF, Sushant Lok and adjoining localities, a large number of people did not even know the local party candidate, but still voted for BJP. Even Umesh Agarwal admitted that people had voted with Modi in mind. Akshay, who has worked for the INLD for a long time, says that despite a large number of people promising to vote for their candidate, they finally preferred to vote for BJP due to Modi. In fact a large number of Jaat voters, who have never ‘crossed the line’, also entered the saffron space, due to the magnetic attraction of the PM. In adjoining Badshahpur, the BJP candidate, Rao Narbir Singh, had to face a stiff contest against Rakesh Daultabad of the INLD and (BJP) Party rebel Mukesh Sharma, who made the contest quite interesting. While it was a neck-to-neck race in Badshahpur hinterland, the BJP candidate got overwhelming support from many ‘new’ Gurgaon colonies, which are still a part of this constituency. Almost 95 per cent votes in these ‘new’ Gurgaon colonies went to Narbir Singh - giving him a chance to become an MLA after a long time. The ‘elite’ corporate crowd did vote in many areas. In Pataudi and Sohna too the BJP won by huge margins, again despite not so strong candidates. In Pataudi, Bimla Chaudhary won by a good number, and she ascribed her victory to PM Modi and also to her mentor, Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh, who has quite a large following in the Ahirwal belt.  So strong was the BJP wave in the urban areas that even ‘personal connections’ were swept away in the Modi wave. RS Rathee, an Independent, who had performed well in the last polls, managed only a couple of thousand in this election. Prem Bhatia, who stays in Sushant Lok, says that people did come out to vote in large numbers, as they wanted to get rid of the Congress government, and also they found hope in Modi as he speaks a language that they understand. The BJP slogan of growth & development growth, and an end to corruption, brought the people out, he says. While the ‘elite’ voted for a change, many a traditional Gurgaon voter was enthused by the fact that, with the BJP in power, a Chief Minister from South Haryana could finally be a reality.  The entire Ahirwal seems to have voted for the BJP in the hope that either Rao Inderjit Singh or Rambilas Sharma would get the top post. That is why there is anger in the area after the BJP favoured an experienced RSS pracharak and a Modi confidante - Manohar Lal Khattar – to be the next CM of Haryana. However, the large Punjabi community across Haryana, including Gurgaon, which voted overwhelmingly in favour of the BJP, is elated by the selection of Khattar.  

The PM’s visit to Gurgaon led to a huge change in mood here. In his rally he spoke about the need for growth, infrastructure, development and an improvement in law and order. Sanjay Kumar, a long time Congress supporter, says that he also went the BJP way because Modi inspires hope. "I want a clean, green and healthy Gurgaon, where roads are wide, there is space for pedestrians, transport for the common man, a halt of corruption, respect for the law and safety for women," he asserts. He adds that if BJP under Modi delivers even half of what has been promised, the City will do well. There is expectation that the new government would focus on infrastructure and basic amenities, and try to root out corruption. The BJP did well among the educated voters; it was supported by many college-educated youth. There was a positive perception about Modi and his policies. The people also were unhappy with corruption and land scams, in which Congress is said to have been involved. The writing on the wall seems clear:now only those politicians who are clean, and who deliver, will survive. If they don’t, they will be punished, like the Congress in Haryana. 



Read More...


  • print
  • comnt
  • share

News from Communities

lowadd
  • Friday Gurgaon Seminar

    http://fridaygurgaon.com/arap_media_cms/gall_content/2014/8/2014_8$thumbimg129_Aug_2014_160822730.jpgOrange Fish
  • Gurgaon Speaks Up-Rest in Peace ''Damini''-Saturday Dec 29 @ Leisure Valley

    http://fridaygurgaon.com/arap_media_cms/gall_content/2013/1/2013_1$thumbimg104_Jan_2013_143656130.jpgOrange Fish
  • Genesis Foundation Fund Raiser

    http://fridaygurgaon.com/arap_media_cms/gall_content/2012/8/2012_8$thumbimg114_Aug_2012_091411630.jpgOrange Fish
  • Coca Cola Cricket trophy played in Gurgaon

    http://fridaygurgaon.com/arap_media_cms/gall_content/2012/3/2012_3$thumbimg117_Mar_2012_180857977.jpgOrange Fish
  • Union Budget 2012

    http://fridaygurgaon.com/arap_media_cms/gall_content/2012/3/2012_3$thumbimg116_Mar_2012_123404760.jpgOrange Fish
  • Union Budget 2012

    http://fridaygurgaon.com/arap_media_cms/gall_content/2012/3/2012_3$thumbimg116_Mar_2012_122004320.jpgOrange Fish
  • Renge Art Walk

    http://fridaygurgaon.com/arap_media_cms/gall_content/2012/3/2012_3$thumbimg102_Mar_2012_095312690.jpgOrange Fish
  • Friday Gurgaon Cricket team

    http://fridaygurgaon.com/arap_media_cms/gall_content/2012/2/2012_2$thumbimg119_Feb_2012_195202840.jpgOrange Fish
  • Genesis Fundraiser Gurgaon

    http://fridaygurgaon.com/arap_media_cms/gall_content/2012/1/2012_1$thumbimg129_Jan_2012_072409630.jpgOrange Fish
  • Gurgaon

    http://fridaygurgaon.com/arap_media_cms/gall_content/2012/1/2012_1$thumbimg102_Jan_2012_165747220.jpgOrange Fish

Latest Issue

Poll

Do you think government should reconsider its policy of promoting liquor vends in Gurgaon?



votebox View Results