A grim electoral battle likely on Ranipur seat between Congress and BJP candidates

HARIDWAR: A grim electoral battle is likely in

Haridwar's Ranipur constituency

between Congress candidate Ambarish Kumar and his BJP rival Adesh Chauhan who had defeated Kumar when he had fought as an independent from the same seat in the last assembly polls.

Incidentally, Kumar was a youth congress leader in the 1970s and later shifted to Samajwadi Party before coming back into the Congress fold again in 2014. He is believed to have a strong base in the Muslim community which constitutes a significant percentage of the 1.48 lakh electorate. Kumar, who had been a Samajwadi Party MLA from 1996 to 2002 and had as its state chief helped the party candidates get elected as MLA and MP from Haridwar, is considered "a knowledgeable and an astute leader."

A post-graduate with a law degree, Kumar in his late sixties hails from a freedom fighter's family. Adesh Chauhan, a committed BJP worker with RSS background, is from a politician's family of Bahdarabad where he runs a medical store. BJP rewarded him with the party ticket for his "hard work, simplicity and uprightness" in his early forties. "For the same reason and through a number of welfare works done in the constituency as an MLA, he has endeared himself to his voters," a Shivalik Nagar resident claimed.

According to Ambarish Kumar, the problems in the constituency include water logging at several places and lack of educational and healthcare facilities. Seasonal rivers in the ghad are also cause difficulties in people's movement. Shivalik Nagar and many other adjoining colonies including Subhash Nagar and Roshnabad lack civic amenities, said Chauhan. Kumar said efforts are on to set up a hospital, a college and an industrial training institute (ITI) in the area and suggested construction of check dams on the rivers. Chauhan claimed credit for Shivalik Nagar being granted a nagar palika status as a solution to its problems. Boring of new tube wells and re-boring of old ones as a solution to water problem and maintenance of sewer line at Shivalik Nagar's at a cost of Rs.1.10 crore, getting Centre's sanction of Rs.277 crore for sewer line in its adjoining and other areas, construction of a national highway from Roshnabad to Biharigarh with Centre's grant of Rs.136 crore were among other projects under way due to his initiative.

An official of

Gurukul Mahavidyalaya

,

Kshetra Pal Singh Chauhan

is sure of Kumar's victory. "People want a strong dynamic leader like Kumar. He is most helpful to people and knows how to get their work done," he said. Sunil Batra, a college teacher said "if he can get over 20,000 votes as an independent candidate, there is nothing to prevent him from winning the seat as a Congress candidate." Ajab Singh from a village near Bahadarabad had nothing against Chauhan except that he is too meek. "He cannot talk to a police officer as boldly as Kumar does. This is a weakness in a politician in people's eyes," he said. In Ranipur, there are about 27,000 Muslims, 18,000 Rajputs-Chauhans, 17,000 Brahmins, 16,000 Dalits, 12,000 Vaishyas, 6,000 Gadariyas, 5,000 Valmikis, 3,000 Jats, 2500 each Banjaras and Walias. Kumar claims over majority of Muslim votes strengthens his position. However, those doubting his chances of victory say that the disunity in Congress as against the BJP almost solidly behind Chauhan may go against Kumar. Naresh Gupta, a local resident discounted such fears saying rumours of infighting in the Congress are baseless. Under the leadership of Harish Rawat, Congressmen in Haridwar are determined to bring the party to power once again.