Chandigarh, May 21
Polling for three assembly byelections in Haryana, one in Punjab and one Lok Sabha byelection in Himachal Pradesh will take place tomorrow.
In Haryana, the byelections for Gohana, Adampur and Indri constituencies have been necessitated after their sitting MLAs, Dharampal Malik, Bhajan Lal and Rakesh Kamboj, were disqualified by the Speaker after their defection from the Congress to the Haryana Janhit Congress floated by Bhajan Lal’s son Kuldeep Bishnoi.
The Amritsar (South) seat in the Punjab assembly fell vacant following the death of the sitting Akali MLA, Raminder Singh Bularia. The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has fielded Bularia’s son Inderbir Singh, who is being opposed by Navdeep Singh Goldy of the Congress and Ram Singh of the SAD (Amritsar).
In Hamirpur, the bypoll was necessitated following the resignation of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal from the Lok Sabha after his election to the state assembly last year. Though there are four candidates in the fray, the main contest is between BJP’s Anurag Thakur, who is Dhumal’s son, and O.P. Ratan of the Congress.
In Amritsar, the ruling party has left nothing to chance. It is for perhaps the first time that the Election Commission has held a Chief Minister guilty of using official machinery while campaigning. The commission has asked Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal to deposit the expenses incurred on the use of official machinery either personally or from the party coffers.
The SAD today deposited Rs 19 lakh in the state treasury for the use of official helicopter and other official vehicles by its chief.
In Haryana, where the government has completed more than three years of its tenure, the byelections are being perceived as a referendum on its performance. The elections are sans issues. More than the candidates, the elections have been focused on the personalities of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal (proxy for his son Bishnoi) and another former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala.
With the Lok Sabha elections less than
a year away, the byelections have become crucial. Their results will be an indicator about the standing of various parties with the voters.
With weathermen predicting inclement weather for the next few days, it will be interesting to note how the weather affects the behaviour of voters. Will the rains keep not-so-hardcore supporters of various parties indoor, keeping the poll percentage low or will the pleasant weather, with farmers free from harvesting, push up the turnout at the polling booths? The answer will be known only tomorrow evening.
