Gurugram: As the Haryana assembly elections, to be held this year, draw closer, about a dozen dynasts, the sons and daughters of several established political leaders in the state, are gearing up to make their electoral debut.
These include Aarti Rao, daughter of Union Minister of State Rao Inderjit Singh; Gaurav Sampat Singh, son of former Haryana minister Sampat Singh; Chanakya Pandit, son of former Haryana Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma; Vikas Saharan, son of Congress’ Hisar MP Jai Parkash; and Akshat Rao, son of Congress candidate for Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha constituency Rao Dan Singh.
Also looking to enter the fray are Arjun Dahiya, son of Congress’ former Rai MLA Jai Tirath Dahiya; Anirudh Chaudhary, son of former Mundhal Khurd MLA Ranbir Mahendra; Balram Singh Dangi, son of Congress’ former Meham MLA Anand Singh Dangi; and Aditya Surjewala, son of Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala.
ThePrint spoke to Arti, Gaurav, Chanakya and Arjun Dahiya’s father about their political plans.
Aarti Rao, 45, is a graduate from Delhi University and a rifle shooter who has represented the country for 18 years at international events. “I have won 15 gold medals so far at the international level,” she told ThePrint Saturday.
“My plans to plunge into electoral politics are 10 years old now. However, it didn’t happen as the party (BJP) didn’t field me in 2014 and 2019 (assembly polls). But this time, I am going to contest come what may. I had already announced this in a public meeting in 2021,” she added.
While she didn’t elaborate on what she meant by saying “come what may”, a BJP worker close to her father told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity that Aarti may contest as an independent or under the banner of “Haryana Insaaf Congress”, a political party floated by one of her family members.
When asked which Haryana constituency she has chosen to contest from, she said she had not yet chosen the assembly segment but it could be any one under the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat or the erstwhile Mahendragarh parliamentary constituency that existed before delimitation.
“I would like to leave the selection of the assembly segment to people who have always stood by our family,” said Aarti.
Under the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat, Badshahpur, Gurgaon, Rewari and Sohna assembly segments are the unreserved seats where Rao Inderjit Singh is believed to have influence.
Narnaul, Mahendragarh and Ateli assembly segments of the erstwhile Mahendragarh Lok Sabha seat, and the Kosli assembly segment under Rohtak Lok Sabha seat are the others where her father is said to enjoy sway.
Talking about her vision, she said that, as a woman, education was one of her priorities.
“People so far didn’t pay much attention to women’s education in rural areas but now, women are the toppers in all examinations. I feel we need to invest more in educating women,” she said.
She added that women’s safety and youth employment are some other issues she will work on.
Gaurav Singh, whose father Sampat Singh has held several portfolios in Haryana under various chief ministers, aspires to contest from his father’s constituency of Nalwa in Hisar.
Sampat, popularly addressed as “professor Sampat Singh” because of his stint as a college teacher before he joined politics as political secretary to Devi Lal when he was CM from 1977 to 1979, is a six-time MLA. He was elected from Bhattu Kalan assembly seat four times, won a byelection from Fatehabad assembly in 1998 and from Nalwa assembly seat in 2009.
Speaking to ThePrint Friday, Gaurav, 44, who has an MBA degree in human resources, said he wanted to join active politics to focus on issues that are being ignored so far.
“Politicians by and large talk of issues that have become stereotypes. Talk to anyone and the answer will be that he would end corruption. Issues of the youth always take a backseat,” he explained.
He added that no one in Haryana had ever talked about reverse osmosis (RO) systems in villages to provide clean drinking water and pointed out that this one step could reduce water-borne diseases and the healthcare burden.
“Former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje did this in her state by roping in a private firm,” Gaurav said.
He also suggested that the government should set up consultancy centres for youth so that they don’t fall prey to unscrupulous elements and take the donkey route to foreign shores.
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Priorities of ticket aspirants
Chanakya, 40, a law graduate from NALSAR in Hyderabad, was an aspirant for the Congress ticket for Karnal Lok Sabha seat against former CM Manohar Lal Khattar. He said he had worked hard on the campaign trail, but the ticket went to Youth Congress chief Divyanshu Budhiraja.
“My father will contest (the Haryana assembly polls) from his traditional Ganaur seat in Sonipat. I am interested in contesting from any seat in Panipat or Karnal district if the Congress gives me a ticket,” said Chanakya, a practising lawyer in district courts who also takes up cases in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Asked about his vision, he said there was a need to create employment for youth, like some southern states had done.
“The GT Road (NH44) has engineering colleges where a large number of youth get degrees. However, they are not getting jobs relevant to their education. On the other hand, we find that most hospitals in the region have nurses from Kerala and the North East. In Haryana, we are not able to get employment for our women,” he pointed out.
According to Chanakya, the other issues he would focus on, if given the chance, were access to governance and urban development.
“The BJP government in Haryana talked much about digitisation in governance but has ended up decreasing people’s access to governance rather than improving it,” he alleged.
“The rapid expansion of cities and the concurrent development of slums is another matter of concern,” he added.
He further highlighted the need to improve education for children. “In the west, the government ensures that basic primary and high school education is well-funded and managed. However, in Haryana, the state of government schools is deplorable and parents are reluctant to send their children to these schools,” Chanakya told ThePrint.
Listing agriculture as another priority, he said “there hasn’t been any investment in agriculture and all agriculture scientists are of the view it is time we invest more in it”.
Speaking to ThePrint, Tirath Dahiya said his son Arjun had been taking care of his Rai constituency for more than 10 years. “I want him to contest this time. However, he wants me to contest and wants to remain in the supporting role. Let us see what happens. It is up to the party leaders,” he added.
Hisar MP Jai Parkash didn’t respond to calls by ThePrint.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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