Tuesday, February 1 2005 11:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Narwana (Haryana): As Haryana goes to Assembly polls on Thursday (Feb 03, 2005), all eyes will be on this constituency in Jind district where Chief Minister and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) president Om Prakash Chautala is fighting hard to stave off a spirited challenge of young and suave Randeep Singh Surjewala, the second-in-command of PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) and one of the many contenders in his party to succeed Chautala.

It promises to be a very close contest; Chautala and Surjewala had been main contenders in Narwana since 1993 and in the last Assembly elections in 2000, Chautala scraped through by just 2,194 votes.

While Chautala had won the by-elections in 1993, Surjewala had turned the tables in the 1996 Assembly polls.

Tempers run high as 36-year-old Surjewala still disputes the outcome of 2000 polls. "Chautala had conceded defeat in Narwana but after the INLD won the State, he forced the then Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) to sign a declaration that he had been elected. Even now, he is misutilising the poll machinery in his favour," he charges.

Dismissing the allegations, Chautala counters, "The Surjewalas (Randeep and his father Shamsher Singh, who is contesting from neighbouring Kaithal constituency) are known for spreading lies."

"Infact, it is the Congress, which is misusing the Government machinery since it came to power at the Centre. Otherwise how can Randeep Surjewala get Z-category security just by claiming some death threats ... who will want to kill him," he says.

The pressure of the poll machinery, however, is obvious. Election Commission Legal Advisor K J Rao recently toured the constituency and just a few weeks back, the Election Commission (EC) removed SDM Satbir Singh, considered close to Chautala, and posted IAS officer Mohammad Shayin in his place. The newcomer faces a difficult job.

Narwana has witnessed poll-related violence in the past and with the keenest of the contest this time, the administration is not taking any chances. Fifty per cent of the polling stations have been declared at least sensitive while all those in Narwana town are marked hyper-sensitive.

"We have posted around 300 personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Madhya Pradesh Police across the constituency," says Shayin, who is also the Returning Officer for the polls. Shayin says 14 "shifting checkposts" have been set up to stop the entry of weapons and liquor. Just two days back, some political activists were arrested allegedly with swords and a revolver, heightening the tension further.