Bikaneris seek a committed candidate

Bikaner, Nov.17 (ANI): Although election fever has gripped the Bikaner constituency, the voters in this Rajasthani city are wary of political outfits and their local leaders.

The main contenders in the State Assembly elections are Congress party and Bharatiya Janata Party, whose candidates have started door-to-door campaign to woo the voters who are reluctant this time to oblige.

Bikaner is famous for its big Havelis and the lip smacking crunchy-munchy snacks like Bhujia and Namkeen. Local residents here are not so enthusiastic this time to exercise their electoral franchise and choose a new State Government.

This year Bikaner has been divided into East and West. There are 1,66,375 voters in the West. Bikaner district will witness elections for seven assembly seats.

Local residents, despite political claims ahead of elections, are annoyed with the politicians non-seriousness towards development works in the city.

Residents grudge that once elected to the State assembly the politicians turn VVIPS and revisit the city only around elections. That too to seek votes while the civic amenities remain as bad as they were a decade earlier.

These leaders are blamed to turn a blind eye to the state of affairs and lend a deaf ear to the people's woes.

"Neither the BJP nor Congress do anything for the common people. The leaders come to ask for the votes during the elections and dupe the people for four to five years. They have nothing to do with any development works in the city," said Kanhaiya Lal, one resident.

There is a feeling among many residents that if any of the parties can address issues in right earnest like the unemployment in the city and the menace of terrorism, they would not mind voting for such a party and its candidate.

"Terrorism and unemployment are the two main problems not only in Bikaner but India also and both the parties have been unsuccessful in getting rid of these problems after independence. These two burning issues should be solved," said Basantlal, another resident of Bikaner.

The Bollywood actor turned BJP leader Dharmendra is Member of Parliament from Bikaner and the residents here are disappointed with his performance.

"Dharmendra who is an actor and who was brought in here as a Central level politician did nothing. Being an actor his victory was natural because he lured the youth votes but he couldn't prove himself as a leader. Before winning the elections and even after winning he said that for some time he would stay in Bikaner only and be available to common man all the time. It proved a false promise. Bikaner's development works have suffered a lot," said Ramesh Chand, another local resident. By Jethmal Sharma (ANI)