Chandigarh, February 3
Haryana voted for change today. The enthusiasm was palpable and very obvious. There was no embarrassment among the voters about openly asserting that they had withdrawn their favour from the five-year old Chautala government. What was surprising, however, was the daring with which the alternate choice was flaunted.

The onrush of feelings luckily did not create a Meham-like situation this time. At places, tempers were on edge; while at others, they nearly boiled over. Narwana saw the tension spilling over, as did Tosham, where prestigious contests were on. But largely, the poll went off without a major confrontation.

The verdict for the day had apparently been pre-decided and the voters were eager to put their stamp on it. It was, in fact, as yet early but a large number of voters had collected outside the polling booth of Ward number 31 of Ambala City constituency. The nearby gurdwara, on its part, was punctual in announcing to the democracy’s faithfuls that it was 8’ O clock and voting had begun. Quickly, queues started forming, and, in the next three hours, nearly 50 per cent had exercised their franchise. A little later, down the road, the sitting MLA came to make a round of the Baldev Nagar booth, Ambala. The voters jeered her. A slanging match ensued till the security personnel advised prudence to the legislator of the outgoing Assembly.

Down the highway and across the lush green fields lies the sleepy village of Amin. It was here that the legendary tale of Abhimanyu’s campaign had supposedly taken place during the battle between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Seventy per cent people had already cast their vote by 2 pm. “The battle has been won here,” said Jai Singh, a retired government employee, “Please tell me if you have any news of Randeep Singh Surjewala’s fight against Chautala. He would win, won’t he?” he asked fondly. All ears, it seemed, strained for the latest on the big fight in Narwana.

That the Chautala government had undertaken considerable development work in the state did rankle and the voters freely admitted that the condition of life had improved during the last five years. But it was just a passing thought that was stirred when the question was asked. The answer: “Par woh to sarkar da farz tha,” Chaudhery Baldev said dryily. “It is his behaviour which has annoyed us. Being chief minister doesn’t mean that you can treat us as you please.”

“Yes,” piped in Sardar Joginder Singh who is driving past a polling booth carrying a huge load of sugarcane. “I have been told that at a rally in Panipat or Sonepat, I don’t remember which, he asked all Punjabis to get up and leave. He said, ‘You don’t vote for me so why are you attending this rally?’ Yeh bhi koi gal hui?”

The real topic of conversation was not which party was coming to power. Instead, it was who would be the next CM. Each section of the voters appeared to have its own favourite and the opinion was as sharply divided as the groups within the Congress.

Most voters, interestingly, after an energetic debate on the merits of each of the prospective chief ministerial candidate, concluded saying that it didn’t matter as long as the current regime was ousted. “All are alike. Sab ek doosre ke bhai hai. But after this election they will know that they should talk to us with love and respect,” said the old Jat puffing at his hookah under a warm sun.

Behaviour of the powers-that-be was obviously a poll issue that had sidelined many other ‘real’ issues like caste and development. This simmering anger was acutely reflected in the voting pattern of North Haryana districts today.

However, it is yet to be seen whether it will translate into a clean sweep by the Congress across the state. As against the cities, the rural areas had apparently not completely gone over to the opposition camp. Large pockets of INLD influence can be easily identified. In fact, the big concern among the poll pundits through the day was the huge rural turnout in Narwana.