Bhattal slogs it out in Lehragaga

Lehragaga (Sangrur), January 19

For the past five years as the Leader of the Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal has never had to slog as hard as in the past two weeks. She starts her day at 6, wooing voters and bringing angry supporters back into the party fold.

Moving around in a Pajero, she implores the voters not to “fall into the trap of the gavaiya (singer)”, a reference to Bhagwant Mann, PPP candidate. People queue up on the muddy tracks as her cavalcade traverses through villages (72 in all) and the towns of Lehra, Moonak and Khanouri.

“Mine is a rural constituency. People here are simple and easily carried away by false promises. I have got 18 colleges and three hospitals for the area during my five tenures as MLA,” she says.

Seated on the front seat, she directs her driver to speed up as she is late for her next rally at Banarsi. “I don’t want the people to leave. As it is the ‘gavaiya’ attracts a lot of youngsters with his jokes,” she remarks.

Asked if he was her main rival, she reacts sharply: “No way, the main fight is with the Akali Dal. But you know a lot of young people find his jokes amusing, so his rallies are well-attended. But the numbers will not convert into votes for him”.

“The area has a high number of cancer cases. So I have got three hospitals built in the area. Health, education and floods caused by the Ghaggar are the main problems here,” she says.

Bhattal promises to get at least three major industries in the area if her party comes to power. "We are going to set up a cottage industry in every village. This will provide employment to the local people.” It is 3 pm and she decides to have a quick lunch.

Holding 17 meetings, Shiv Bhole Rice Mill at Khanouri is her last halt for the day. There she meets party workers. In chaste Haryanvi, Budh Singh informs her: “Bibi ji, we are weak in Chatha as the baazigars there have an issue with the allotment of plots". Another activist says: " Reports from Mandvi are not good. They are annoyed because you have not visited them since the last elections". She directs that her son Rahul Sidhu be sent there to appease the bazigar community.

“When you go back to your villages, tell the people not to be misled by the ‘gavaiya’ or that retired officer (SAD nominee Sukhwant Singh Sarao). You have seen how the Akalis have ignored this area. It is the Congress that got Rs 183 crore from NABARD for taming the Ghaggar. Consider these elections as a battle for development”. Back home at 10.30 pm, she calls Rahul, her chief strategist, to a room marked “War room:out of bounds”. A few important calls to Delhi and she retires for the day.