DW BUREAU / Kurukshetra

Entering politics may still be a distant dream for the wife of Haryana Chief Minister and BJP leader Nayab Singh Saini, but she has already taken the road to reduce the widening distance with the electorate while campaigning on his behalf owing to his pre-occupation in other constituencies.

The BJP is eyeing a hat-trick of wins in the state under the leadership Saini, a non-Jat but Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader.

The last election was fought under the leadership of Manohar Lal Khattar, who was at the helm for nearly nine-and-a-half years till March 2024, paving the way for the next Chief Minister.

First-time Chief Minister Saini's wife Suman Saini is campaigning aggressively on the new battleground of her hubby, that is largely rural. The Ladwa Assembly constituency, part of the Kurukshetra parliamentary seat, has a population of 22.6 per cent Scheduled Castes, besides 7.4 per cent from the Saini community.

Saini was keen to re-enter the poll fray from Karnal, the seat he won in the June bypoll when he replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as the Chief Minister.

However, the BJP leadership considers Ladwa, which came into existence in 2007, the safest seat for Saini as the party polled 47.14 per cent of the votes in the June parliamentary polls.

Banking on the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national level and her husband's predecessor Khattar's public welfare programmes in the state, on an average Saini's wife is holding 15-16 public meetings, besides attending social gatherings, every day and does not hesitate to fold her hands and bow her head before commoners to seek votes for the party.

With local knowledge, openness, and good communication, she's turning out to be a hit among the masses as she understands, "People don't care until they know how much you care."

A party spokesperson told IANS that since Chief Minister Saini, under whose leadership the party is going to the polls, is touring across the state and not devoting much time to his constituency, his wife Suman along with close-knit family members has been canvassing extensively on his behalf, giving no opportunity to his rivals to say that the candidate is missing from the scene.

"She (Suman) starts campaigning as early as 8 A.M. and after holding 15-16 public meetings till 7 P.M., she prefers to interact with people at one place to understand problems and grievances and that continues till late night," said the spokesperson. The spokesperson added, "CM Saini, despite his hectic schedule, spared some time to campaign in Ladwa too. On Monday he staged a road show in Ladwa town.

(editor@dailyworld.in)