M A I N   N E W S

Ellenabad Bypoll
Congress poised for tough fight
Yoginder Gupta & Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Ellenabad, January 19
On the eve of polling for the byelection in this dusty constituency bordering Rajasthan, the main contenders, the INLD and the Congress, are keeping fingers crossed. Posturing apart, the body language of leaders of the two parties betrays their anxiety. They are not sure which way the 1.44 lakh voters of the constituency will go tomorrow.

The Congress started as an underdog, campaigning rather late after several hiccups. The INLD, on the other hand, started campaigning the moment its president Om Prakash Chautala vacated the seat in favour of Uchana Kalan.

The candidature of Abhey Singh Chautala, younger son of the party president, came as no surprise even though it was announced late and after the Congress had declared BS Beniwal’s candidature.

On the pretext of thanking voters for electing him in October last, the senior Chautala intensively toured the constituency before quitting the seat, urging the voters to repose confidence in his party candidate once again.

At that time the byelection was not even on the Congress agenda occupied as it was with government formation with the help of Independents.

Little wonder then that when the campaigning started, the INLD was miles ahead of the Congress, which was hamstrung by infighting and ego clashes of its leaders, both big and small.

In Sirsa, the problem was more acute. “Old” Congress men who had lost the assembly elections were not able to come to terms with the ascendancy of two Independent MLAs of the area, Gopal Kanda and Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, in the Hooda government.

Neither could they accept former INLD leaders, who had joined the Congress just before the elections, being assigned responsibility for the byelection. Hence, the Congress campaign just could not take off in the initial days.

The party faced embarrassment when it had to backtrack its decision to make former INLD leader Sampat Singh in charge of the byelection, lest certain “old” Congress leaders were offended.

To avoid further controversy, Haryana Congress president Phool Chand Mullana was made overall in charge. It is another matter that those who had objected to Sampat Singh’s name continued to pay mere lip service to the cause of the party till Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda arrived here and pulled them up.

The Congress campaign picked up following Hooda’s two visits to the constituency. And now party managers feel that the party support has reached a stage where it does not face the danger of a “humiliating defeat.”

The Chautala clan, for which the stakes in the byelection are very high, has left no stone unturned to keep the loyalty of the voters intact. After all, the clan claims to have been winning this seat since 1936, when assembly elections were held for the first time during the British regime. It has been rare when a candidate not put up by the Chautalas has won from here.

The entire family led by the senior Chautala was out on the road to ensure the victory of Abhey Singh.

The area is what Adampur is to the Bhajan Lal family. The victory of the Bhajan Lal clan from Adampur is considered a foregone conclusion; ditto for the Chautalas in this rural constituencies of Sirsa. Only their defeat would make news.