Raman Singh faces the stick from hockey fans

RAJNANDGAON (Chhattisgarh): Bizarre though it may sound but the sitting Congress MLA from this constituency, Uday Mudaliar, has raked up neglect of budding hockey players by his opponent Chief Minister Raman Singh as one of the main election issues.
    
Rajnandgaon, which borders Maharashtra, has produced several hockey players at the national level and even boasts of an Olympian. With the locals love for the national sport it is little wonder that Mudaliar is espousing this cause to win against the BJP chief ministerial candidate who is fighting from the constituency.
    
"One of our hockey players, Mrinal Chaube is in the national hockey team. Raman Singh kept announcing that he will get astro turf for the local stadium but as chief minister he never made any efforts," Mudaliar told PTI, when asked to enumerate the issues on his agenda.
    
It is obvious Mudaliar, who has won this seat in 1993 and then in 2003 and is in the fray for the fourth time, is aiming at the sizable chunk of young voters.
    
"The likes of Nayan Mongia, Virendra Sehwag and Gautam Ghambir had praised the cricket stadium here on their visit but the chief minister has not done anything for it either," he adds.
    
The love for hockey comes across when one interacts with locals. "I still remember hockey legend Dhyanchand had come here when I was a kid and said that he was amazed at the enthusiasm for hockey here," said Vijay Jha, a local.

Mudaliar is not resting on sports alone and has the usual issues like development, unemployment and corruption, to corner the chief minister. "When he was union minister of state for industry (in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government) the Bengal-Nagpur Cotton Mill here was closed down leading to unemployment," he said.
    
The going might not be so smooth for the sitting MLA as local boy Raman Singh seems to enjoy the support of locals.
    
"He is not an outsider like Sonia Gandhi. He is mild-mannered and has provided employment to many people as teachers, patwaris and so on. He also gave a dearness allowance of 6 per cent," said Santosh Sharma, a local.
     
Singh had contested from neighbouring Dongargaon in 2003, within six months of becoming chief minister after the party put him in the chair. Being the state unit head during the last assembly elections, he had declared he will not contest.
     

Though Mudaliar, who had managed a hairline victory by 40 votes in the last elections, recognises Raman Singh as a
formidable opponent, he is all set to put up a good fight. "The fight is not going to be one-sided," said Rajju John, one of his supporters.

Mudaliar is quick to point out that Raman Singh is resorting to populist measures. "He has announced distribution of rice at Rs 3 per kg but it is going only to those families close to the BJP workers," he said.
    
Ironically, Congress leader Ajit Jogi has also announced that if Congress comes to power BPL families would get rice at Rs 2.
    
"These populist measures have led to a jump in bogus BPL ration cards. There were 19 lakh card-holders during the earlier Congress regime but the number has jumped to 36 lakh now," Mudaliar alleged.
    
But Singh supporters are positive of his win.
    
"People will give this seat to Raman Singh as a gift though Mudaliar is doing his best," said a local teacher.
     
Singh held a road show a few days ago and got a warm response.
    
Mudaliar, however, is putting a brave front and is not being taken lightly either.
    
"I know I am contesting against the chief minister of the state. But I have done a lot for the locals in the last five years. Lets wait and see," he said.