With Aditya filing nomination, 3rd generation of Surjewalas enters Haryana electoral politics

Kaithal, Sep 13 : One of Haryana’s influential political families in its quest to further expand electoral interests has launched Congress General Secretary and party Member of Parliament Randeep Singh Surjewala’s son, Aditya Surjewala in the Assembly elections.

Aditya is the third generation in the fray from the Kaithal Assembly constituency, an urban seat with a literacy rate of over 80 per cent, that his father represented twice -- 2009 and 2014 and grandfather once in 2005.

In the 2019 polls, fourth-time lawmaker Randeep lost to BJP’s Leela Ram Gujjar by a slender margin of 1,246 votes.

In 2014, he retained the seat, dominated by the Jats and Gurjars, with a massive margin of 23,675 votes.

Between 2005 and 2009, Kaithal, traditionally a stronghold of the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), was represented by his father Shamsher Singh, a veteran lawmaker who was minister thrice.

Randeep Surjewala, who was Cabinet Minister in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led government from 2005 to 2009 and 2009 to 2014, surprised many by defeating Chief Minister and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala in 1996 and 2005, both times from Narwana in Jind district.

Now young and suave the junior most Surjewala is trying his luck from the family stronghold by banking on the development carried out by his father and grandfather during their stints at the helm of the state. From Kaithal, party’s veteran Om Prakash Jain remained a legislator four times.

“A huge unemployment is a matter of concern and we have to work in this direction. We also know about the condition of roads after rains. Electricity, water and sewage are the problems facing our city. The youth of our constituency are leaving the country (for employment). We have to bring change in this regard,” Aditya told the media after filing his nomination papers on Thursday.

Focusing his campaign on development, he tells the crowd, “I can proudly say that I belong to Kaithal and the constituency is desperate for development and progress.”

Firmly believing the country needs young leaders and a beginning in this direction has been made, Aditya vows to take the grand legacy of his grandfather and father forward through welfare programmes and initiatives by ameliorating inequality.

Kaithal is a city of religious and historical importance for different communities.

His father and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala, who accompanied his son at the time of filing papers, said, “Now we have to work, work and work for the overall development of the entire Kaithal constituency.”

Riding high on its pro-incumbency and the Modi factor, the BJP believes in retaining this Assembly seat in the Kurukshetra parliamentary constituency.

Locals, however, blame the sitting BJP legislator for ignoring the constituency -- an important tourism site with famous historical temples and tombs of Sufi saints, despite the party being at the helm in the state.

“There is not much development in Kaithal despite its historical importance,” remarked resident Ramesh Aggarwal, while pointing towards the sewage flowing on the streets. He said after heavy rainfall, water started to flow out of sewage manholes on main roads and streets in many localities, including posh areas.

Randeep Surjewala is credited for developing parks and stadiums, besides basic amenities and infrastructure in his constituency when his party was at the helm from 2004 to 2014.

BJP's candidate Leela Ram defected from the INLD and joined the ruling party in 2014.

His re-entry has made the contest straight between the Jats and the Gurjars, the dominant communities. Aditya belongs to the Jat community, while Ram is a Gurjar.

The constituency has nearly 2 lakh-voter strength which includes 30,000 Jats (15 per cent) and 22,000 Gurjars (11 per cent). The other communities include the Baniyas, Dalits and the Punjabi community.

Haryana will go to the polls for the 90-member Assembly on October 5 and the counting of ballots will be held on October 8.

(Vishal Gulati can be reached at vishal.g@ians.in)