Haryana: Poll issues

One of the most prosperous states of the country, Haryana, is all set to go to for Parliamentary Elections. The state is extremely politicised too. SYL canal issueDevelopment projectsLiquo

Kamna Arora

One of the most prosperous states of the country, Haryana, is all set to go to for Parliamentary Elections. The state is extremely politicised too. In actual, the state always seems to be involved some political issue or the other all year round. Not just internal issues, the state stays in headlines for inter-state issues as well. In the last LS polls, Congress had bagged nine of the 10 seats, but this time competition is quite tough. Following are some of the key issues that could seal the fate of the government to be sworn in Delhi. SYL canal issue - The Rs 850 crore and 306-km long Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal and the Rs 354 crore and 109-km long Hansi-Butana canal issues are the key poll issues in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. The Indian National Lok Dal has already announced the SYL issue as its key poll plank. The ruling Congress party is also accused of wasting public money in the construction of Hansi-Butana canal, which continued to remain dry as it did not have the mandatory authorisation. However, Congress describes SYL issue as just the one from which the opposition parties are trying to gain political mileage. No doubt that politicians of Haryana and Punjab use river waters as an ongoing game. While the game of water continues, the players of the game keep on changing, depending on their skills to run the course. Development projects – The ruling Congress party has announced to enter the polls with development as its key issue. However, the opposition parties will count upon delay in the implementation and completion of infrastructure development projects to woo the voters. Notably, the Supreme Court is monitoring the progress of the 135.65 km Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway. However, only 14.47 percent of the work had been finished till February 23, 2009 as against the target date of completion on July 31, 2009. Liquor vends – The Haryana government has announced that reservations were being made for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Backward Classes (BC) category A in allocation of liquor vends as per the new excise policy for this year. Since Parliamentary Elections are round the corner, the declaration could be seen as a political gimmick. Fiscal mismanagement – The ruling Congress party is accused of fiscal mismanagement, due to which the state’s debts have increased by Rs 17,000 crore and bank loans by Rs 6,500 crores. In fact, the opposition parties are apprehending scam and drawing voters to their side. Voters need to know where the government used loans and debts, especially when the total budget of the state was Rs 33,000 crore, and the present debts were expected to increase to Rs 40,000 crore. Power crisis – The state faces a huge problem of power crisis and shortage of cooking gas. And this has given a chance to the opposition parties to express sympathy with voters, while flaying the ruling government. The opposition accuses the current government of creating near blackout type situations. Due to shortage of LPG cylinders, cases are coming to light that people are buying these in the black market at excessive prices. Irregular power cuts and increasing cost of captive power generation has hit Haryana`s industrial production as well, with the state exchequer losing between Rs 80 lakh and Rs one crore per day. Due to unscheduled power supply and higher cost of captive power generation, there is an enormous plunge in profit margins and industrial output has dipped as well. Unemployment – This is another issue the opposition parties are trying to bank upon. According to a report prepared by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics in 2008, the unemployment rate in urban areas of Haryana was 37 per 1,000 compared with 48 per 1,000 in urban areas at the national level. The state’s unemployment rate has gone north due to global economic recession, and the opposition parties are ready to take complete advantage of the situation. The state government has already announced a scheme providing 100 sq yard plots to Scheduled Castes families in the wake of forthcoming polls. Health infrastructure and education are the areas where the ruling government can face a jolt.