Ahead of poll, parties highlight Gurgaon’s urban-rural divide

On the other side, however, not much has changed over the years. The area is devoid of malls, international schools, private universities and glitzy buildings.

“When there is this yawning gap between two parts of the same city, one can imagine the situation of small villages falling under Sohna and Pataudi,” Ajay Yadav, a departmental store owner in Sector-5, Gurgaon, said.

What is more ironic, he says, is that the ones who enjoy the fruits of this development — corporate executives and the urban migrant crowd — are not voters of Gurgaon. “The ones who are yet to to be considered by the political class are the locals,” Yadav said.

“All the development brought by the Congress government, including Metro and Rapid Metro, has benefited the people of new Gurgaon. But old Gurgaon has been largely ignored,” Umesh Aggarwal, BJP’s Gurgaon candidate, said.

With the state elections around the corner, a total of 62 candidates are in the fray in Gurgaon District which comprises the four Assembly seats of Gurgaon city, Badshahpur, Sohna and Patuadi (reserved seat).

Bringing the Metro to old Gurgaon, more security for women, development of Pataudi and the small villages of Badshahpur and Sohna are some of the issues which are being highlighted by most of the 62 candidates. The BJP in its manifesto has even promised buses with security guards for women.

Rakesh Bhardwaj, a candidate from Badshahpur, said, “Gurgaon has developed but most parts of Badshahpur and Sohna have not.”

Until these elections, the people of Gurgaon had only two parties to choose from — the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). But now there are more parties in the fray.

The major contestants from Gurgaon city are BJP’s Umesh Aggarwal, INLD’s Gopi Chand Gehlot and senior Congress leader Dharambir Gaba (82). Sitting MLA of Gurgaon city Sukhbir Kataria will be contesting as an independent this time too.

Kataria figures in 9 FIRs in connection with the fake voter identity card case. But Kataria prefers to call himself a social worker —  that is the profession he has written down in his declaration before the Election Commission.

Another independent candidate and president of Gurgaon Citizen’s Council (GCC), R S Rathi, has the support of most of the residents’ welfare associations in Gurgaon.

Sohna, an area dominated by the Ahir community, has the most number of candidates. Lastly, Pataudi, which is a reserved seat has 10 candidates contesting. Bimla Choudhary from BJP, Rajesh Kumar of Haryana Janhit Congress, Congress’s Sudhir Kumar, Ganga Ram from INLD and Ajit Kumar from BSP are in fray.