Jind: Said to be established at the time of Mahabharata by the Pandavas and named after the goddess of victory (Jainti Devi), the city of Jind lies in central Haryana and is the fourth district of the Jat belt.
The city has also been infamous for very poor sex ratio as a result of female foeticide and infanticide in the area with many families forcing their womenfolk to undergo multiple abortions in the desire for a son.
The city lacks development, a fact on which everyone ranging from the local leaders to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, agree. "Development is the only solution to our problems," Modi had said while he addressed an election rally in Jind on Saturday.
Lack of education, too, has been one of the prime reasons for poor development in the district. "There is no denying that the area lacks development. People are not educated. They need to be educated and that is what our aim is," Bharatiya Janata Party Jind candidate Surendra Singh Banwala said.
However, many people are unwilling to accept that there is an education problem. "We send our daughters to school. Every woman in our family will vote also," a resident said.
Male dominance is clearly visible as every woman that comes across, be it in the rural or the urban locality, wears a veil (ghoonghat) covering their entire face. "It is improper to come in front of males without the veil. The woman in the state, maintain that decency," a resident said.
In the election season, the entire district is filled with posters and banners of different parties. Jind is a close battle between the Indian National Lok Dal's sitting MLA Dr Hari Chand Middha, the Bharatiya Janata Party's Surinder Singh Barwala, a former INLD minister, and Congress leader Pramod Sehwag.
Rubbishing all claims of the BJP of a "Modi wave", the INLD claimed that nothing can stop them from winning an "absolute majority". While campaigning in Jind, INLD workers assured that not only will Middha win the polls from the district "he will become a minister in the Cabinet when the INLD comes to power in these elections".
They even trained guns at Barwala who recently shifted his allegiance from the INLD to the BJP. "Barwala has backstabbed the INLD. At a time when Om Prakash Chautala ji is in jail, instead of supporting him, he moved to the BJP," an INLD member Raju said appealing that such traitors should be punished.
The BJP, meanwhile, assured the voters that "good days will come if you vote for the BJP (Kamal khilayene aapke ache din ayenge). The BJP is confident that the PM has been able to touch the right chord of the people, enough to make them win with a majority.
While rallies and roadshows by the INLD and the BJP were seen all around Jind, the Congress seemed to be holding a low profile campaign.
In a public meeting, as the audience waited for the Congress leader to arrive, a party worker sang praises for Pramod from the stage. "He is an able leader. He is young and has many plans. He is very bright. Recently actor Mahima Chowdhary and Raj Babbar came for Pramod ji's meeting. The glow on his face outweighed the two actors present on the stage," a worker said.
With all parties focusing on the development agenda as part of their manifesto, Jind residents hope that whichever party comes to power, it will fulfil the promises that have been made through blaring loudspeakers.
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