After graduating from St Stephen’s College in 2001, Ashwani Kumar went to University of Queensland to pursue a masters in accounting. On completion, he landed a job at PricewaterhouseCoopers as an auditor. A permanent residency along with a cushy job with a multinational management consultancy, however, couldn’t keep him away from home. In 2008, Kumar was back tilling 40 acres of his land in Teja Kheda, a small village with a population less than 5,000 in Sirsa district of Haryana. Teja Kheda is the birth place of INLD founder Chaudhary Devi Lal. It is part of Dabwali assembly constituency that has been ruled by the INLD for 14 straight years. In 2009, former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala’s son Ajay won from the constituency. Since he is in jail on charges of corruption in the appointments of junior basic teachers in the state, this year, his wife Naina is contesting. Farming and politics are two main preoccupations of the people living in villages that comprise Dabwali. In this relatively prosperous belt with good infrastructure such as roads, transport, schools in most villages and hospitals in some and TV sets and washing machines in average households, loyalty seems to be the factor that will determine the winner. Indeed, loyalty has a price tag, too. In Teja Kheda, there are few like Kumar who are well educated. Most of them are school dropouts. Yet, most of them speak in unison when it comes to the question of who they want in power. “I realised early during my career as an auditor that farming was my true calling in life. And I came back fully aware that politics is crucial to a farmer’s life. It is because of this clarity that I want Naina to win. I also want the Chautalas back in power in Haryana,” says Kumar. Almost 70 per cent of villagers in and around Dabwali mainly grow cotton besides wheat, rice, mustard. Alleging that “unsympathetic” politicians play at the hands of big businessmen and tweak export policies that hurt farmers, Kumar says: “A politician who is sensitive to the needs of a farmer, like the Chautalas, who themselves are farmers, can turn around our fortunes. Besides, we have a selfish angle — being from our own constituency, the Chautalas will always favour us.” Less than 5 km away in Chautala village, Mahender Singh, 72, has just come back from a rally in Dabwali addressed by Naina Chautala, Prakash Badal and Naina’s brother-in-law Abhay Singh Chautala. “Devi Lal was born here, his sons and grandsons too were born here. They are family. We will vote for them,” he says. Villagers in Chautala are clear about their reasons. “Most households in our village survive on farming. Of around 5,000 families, only 50-60 have members who have government jobs. Once the Chautalas are back in power, at least, some more of us will get jobs as teachers or in police,” says a local farmer Ashok Kumar. Villagers are convinced O P Chautala and his son are in jail because of “a conspiracy hatched by the Congress”. “Besides loyalty, they (Chautalas) also have sympathy working for them,” says Vinod Kumar, who has come from Abubshehar village. Back in Chautala and Teja Kheda, residents are hopeful that if Naina wins, she will use her power to free the men and the INLD will be a force to reckon with. “Hamare achche din to tabhi aayenge,” says Kumar.
