Historically, economically deprived voters in Mewat have swung in favour of independents
Gurugram: Located between Gurugram and Faridabad, two of the richest cities in Haryana, progress should have also impacted the lives of five lakh people of Mewat.
Contrary to the expectations for many, Mewat, according to the national survey, is not only the most backward district in Haryana but also in the entire country.
Despite several assurances and promises by the political leadership, the economic backwardness of Mewat has not been removed. This in a way has also been reflected in the voting preferences for the region.
The Nuh constituency has a total of 1,65,000 voters, the seat was won by Zakir Hussain who in 2014 represented Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) but has then taken the membership of BJP.
The Ferozpur Jhirka Vidhan sabha seat comprises of two lakh voters and was won by Naseem Ahmed also from INLD. He then has taken the membership of the Indian National Congress.
The Punhana seat comprises of 1,69,000 voters in which 71,000 are female voters while over 91,000 are males, the seat in 2014 was won by Rashid Khan then from Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) but has then taken the membership of BJP.
The lack of economic process, infrastructure and opportunities have resulted in the voters of Mewat giving more preference to the independents than mainstream national or regional parties.
Primary educational and medical sectors, employment opportunities are lacking due to shortage of industries and service sectors while a large number of cancer cases due to contaminated ground groundwater are some of the pressing issues of the region.
The trend of favouring the independents have been continuing since 1967 ever since the first Vidhan Sabha elections were held. In those elections, the voters elected Rahim Khan who was an independent.
Even though Rahim was not able to secure his seat in the elections that were held in the year 1968 which he lost to Khurshid Ahmed of Indian National Congres, he was able to again win the seat in 1972 elections. His last victory came in the year 1982. Both these elections were won by him as an independent.
Besides Rahim Khan, other independents that have been elected by Mewat voters are Hassan Mohammad who won in 1989 and Khurshid Ahmed in 1996.
For ease of governance, Mewat was broken into three constituencies namely Nuh, Punhana and Ferozpur Jhirka. However, that too has not benefitted the region entirely.
In an interesting move from Punhana, BJP has given the ticket to Zakir Hussain and Naseem Ahmed from Nuh and Ferozpur Jhirka, Raees Khan has been replaced by 28-year-old Nauksham Chaudhury.
Nauksham is the daughter of retired Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge RS Chaudhury and Ranjit Kaur who was the secretary in the Haryana revenue department.
Chaudhury had first completed her undergraduate from Delhi University's Miranda House and then went to London to complete her masters in arts in media and communication.
The three are expected to be given tough competition from the members of Congress that will include Aftab Ahmed (Nuh), Mamman Khan (Ferozpur Jhirka) and Mohammad Ajaz Khan (Punhana).
Among the major poll promises, the state government is promising that the entire region of Mewat will be beneficiary in the Delhi -Mumbai corridor that will pass through the region.
