Haryana bypoll: Passed on from one CM to another, Karnal now a test of BJP's 10 years in govt

Karnal (Haryana): Nayab Singh Saini is in his car when he pulls out a tiffin box to have his food in the moving vehicle to save on time amid hectic electioneering.

The Haryana Chief Minister pours some 'Khichdi' on his plate. "I like to have simple food," he says with a smile, as shown in a video uploaded on Facebook. Saini often carries his tiffin box with him in his car and the post shows he loves his 'Khichdi'.

Saini is fighting the Karnal assembly bypoll which was necessitated by the resignation of his predecessor Manohar Lal Khattar, who is fighting the Lok Sabha election.

Even as a heat wave is sweeping the entire northern belt, the 54-year-old has been criss-crossing the state, keeping up with meetings and rallies.

A few days ago, Saini was out on a morning walk in Karnal's Atal Park, where he played cricket with children.

While campaigning recently in the Karnal assembly constituency, Saini talked about the developmental works undertaken by the 'double-engine' government.

Saini said that Khattar's almost decade-long rule ended the 'parchi-kharchi' system which was rampant in the previous Congress regime, when jobs were given on the basis of 'favouritism and corruption.'

In all his rallies, Saini makes it a point to attack the Congress and accuse it of failing to work for the welfare of the elderly and seeking power for the power's sake.

The BJP leader also makes it a point to talk about his party's scrapping of Article 370, enacting laws like Citizenship Amendment Act, and abolition of triple talaq system.

Saini claims that the BJP government in the state ensured equitable development and gave a transparent administration.

Saini had won his first Lok Sabha polls in 2019 from Kurukshetra. Before that as Naraingarh MLA, he had been a minister in the first Khattar government.

"Lotus (BJP poll symbol) will bloom on all eleven seats (10 parliamentary plus Karnal assembly seat)," Saini says with confidence at all his rallies.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had won all 10 seats from Haryana.

In the 2019 assembly polls, Manohar Lal Khattar, who was then the state's chief minister, retained the Karnal seat defeating Tarlochan Singh, 69, of the Congress.

Tarlochan Singh, whom Saini will be facing this time, has also served as the head of the Haryana Minorities Commission.

"In 2019, I fought against then CM Khattar from Karnal. Now, I am fighting against the present CM," Singh, who had joined the Youth Congress in 1982, told PTI.

When asked about BJP's claims of development in the state, Singh, in not so many words, said Khattar had little to show for his 10 years in power.

"When after 10 years of his government the public sought an account from Khattar, he was removed by his party … When Khattar was the CM, Karnal was called the 'CM City,' but it was here that farmers, employees, aanganwari workers, sarpanches, who raised their voice had to face lathis," he said.

Haryana has only seen a rise in unemployment, crime, and scams under the BJP's government, he said.

"Karnal got so many funds in the name of Smart City, but where is the development? No development took place," claimed the Congress candidate. Kalpana Chawla medical college was built during our time, but they could not even maintain that!' Saini, on the other hand, has been actively campaigning for Khattar, who is fighting from the Karnal parliamentary seat.

The state BJP chief and an outgoing MP from the Kurukshetra seat, Saini was sworn in as the Haryana Chief Minister on March 12.

On March 13, Khattar resigned as an MLA from the Karnal assembly seat and on the same day, named as the BJP candidate from the Karnal Lok Sabha seat.

Saini, a low profile OBC leader, rose through the ranks in party and is considered a confidante of Khattar.

Nine candidates are in fray for the Karnal assembly bypoll, all males. The bypoll to the Karnal Assembly seat will be held on May 25 along with the voting for 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana.