2024 Karnal Lok Sabha Elections: BJP veteran faces Congress youth leader

Karnal | Panipat: A former CM and the currentCM are in the fray in Karnal -- one contesting for the Lok Sabha elections and the other for the state assembly bypoll. Manohar Lal Khattar, who was replaced as Haryana CM, is contesting the Lok Sabha election after resigning from Karnal assembly seat. His successor Nayab Saini is contesting the by-poll from the same assembly seat. But more than the CM and the former CM, it is the two other candidates -- Congress' Divyanshu Budhiraja and NCP-INLD joint candidate Virender Maratha -- who have created a lot of buzz in this constituency, where the BJP registered the second highest margin in the previous Lok Sabha polls.

Karnal is seen as one of the better seats for the BJP which its precursor, Jan Sangh, had won for the first time in 1962. While Karnal is hub for rice millers, dairy players and the footwear industry, Panipat in a handloom industry centre.

As one travels from the urban centres of Panipat and Karnal, factors like Modi's popularity and free ration get drowned by people's anger against the mishandling of farmers and wrestlers' protests.

Along the National Highway in Dikadla village, 10 km from Samalkhan, local transporter Surender said, "The BJP governments, both at Centre and state did not handle the farmers' and wrestlers' protests well. They were mistreated." This is a sentiment which echoes in the rural parts of both Panipat and Karnal, and is particularly louder among the Sikhs. The region has substantial Sikh voters, numbering around two lakh, who have supported BJP in large numbers even during the Jan Sangh days.

Khattar has been campaigning aggressively and reaching out to villagers claiming that "this election is to elect PM Modi and I am just his nominee". Speaking mostly on national issues, he talks about "recruitment in state government jobs" without 'kharchi' and 'parchi' (bribe and commendation).

Congress' Budhiraja is a student leader whose life has taken a U-turn -- from protesting against Khattar to contesting against him now. His fiery speeches specifically focus on "insult to wrestlers and farmers" and "lack of jobs". Listening to his speech in Pundri, youngster Rahul Tuteja in Karnal describes him as a "josh se bhara hua neta" but says he and many like him would vote for Modi.

Another contestant, Virender Maratha who hails from the Ror caste, an OBC agrarian caste like Jats, has unsuccessfully contested more than six times. Rors constitute more than 1.5 lakh voters in the Karnal Lok Sabha constituency.

But more than Budhiraja and Maratha, local BJP leaders are concerned about the apathy among urban voters as they see that a lead from Karnal and Panipat assembly segments are crucial for Khattar's Lok Sabha victory.