Kaithal: Seeking re-election in the October 15 assembly polls, Haryana Cabinet Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala is banking on the developmental works carried out in this constituency under the Congress rule in Haryana.
Surjewala, the three-time MLA, said Kaithal has witnessed good development during the past decade.
The Congress government has spent over Rs 4,800 crore on the overall development of the district, Surjewala said.
Randeep said development works have been carried out in power sector, improving basic amenities and infrastructure, enhanced health care system and education facilities of the constituency, besides other works.
47-year-old Surjewala is pitted against INLD's Kailash Bhagat (62) and BJP's Rao Surender Singh (55) among others for the Kaithal constituency.
The notable development works carried out here include the setting up of BR Ambedkar government college, installing sewage and water treatment plants, improving road network, setting up power sub stations of 220 KV and 132 KVs and laying of new power lines, spending Rs 555 crore on development of Kaithal town alone, setting up of a children's park named after Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru, establishing a 200 bed hospital and renovating a historic fort in Kaithal.
Surjewala, who belongs to the Jat community, had defeated Bhagat in the 2009 assembly polls by a margin of over 22,000 votes.
He was a two-time legislator from the adjoining Narwana constituency.
Between 2005 and 2009, Kaithal was represented in the state assembly by Randeep's father and veteran Congress leader Shamsher Singh Surjewala.
In the run up to the polls, Surjewala, who is also the Congress party's national spokesman, has been concentrating all his attention in his constituency, which has nearly 1.80 lakh voter strength that includes nearly 36,000 Jat votes while other communities here include the Gujjars, Dalits and the Punjabi community.
Asked if "Modi factor" would play any role here in the polls, Surjewala said that the 'achhe din' myth of the BJP stands exposed. He said the people will reject the saffron party in the polls.
"BJP suffers from a phobia of arrogance in Haryana and has become an accumulating point for defectors, opportunists and rejected leaders," the senior Congress leader said.
The people will not go with INLD, during whose tenure a reign of terror had been let loose and the state had fallen behind, he added.
Closeted between Jind on one side and Karnal and Kurukshetra on the other, Kaithal district is situated on the north-west of the state and is associated with Lord Hanuman. According to mythology, Kaithal was established by Yudhistra during the Mahabharata era.
The BJP candidate in fray from the constituency, Rao Surender Singh, claims that "no real development" has taken place here and the local residents have not got government jobs.
"People are keen to bring a BJP government to power to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre," he said.
The INLD candidate, Kailash Bhagat, claims that things have changed since the last assembly election and Congress was on its "way out".
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