Rao Inderjit Singh, who is fighting on a BJP ticket from Gurgaon after nearly 35 years in Congress, may be called an "opportunist" by critics but the former Union minister blames internal politics for his exit from the party he represented thrice in Lok Sabha.
Locked in a high-profile fight with AAP's Yogendra Yadav, Singh, who had decided to part ways with Congress in September last year and joined BJP in February, said he was confident of retaining the constituency. He defeated Zakir Hussain of BSP in 2009.
Son of former Haryana Chief Minister late Rao Birendra Singh, Inderjit said, "My battle here is only with other candidates in fray and not within the party, unlike the time when I was in Congress," he said. Singh was a Minister of State in UPA's first term.
"During our campaigning process, I have realised that the voters are aware of who will be the best candidate to capitalise on the (UPA) anti-incumbency wave. They can't afford to experiment the way they did in Delhi," he told PTI.
Severely critical of Aam Aadmi Party, Singh termed it as a "self proclaimed" organisation which is constantly "undermining the democratic process". "May be a few years down the line, the AAP party would mature into a sensible party.
But for now, people are not willing to experiment," he said claiming that he was not facing any competition from AAP or Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
"My competition is only with the Indian National Lok Dal candidate Hussain as he has a strong hold in Mewat region," he said. Asserting that "Modi wave is prevalent in Gurgaon too and I am getting extensive support because of it", Inderjit said had he been contesting on a Congress ticket, things would have been negatively different.
Singh also came down heavily on Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, accusing him of rolling out development schemes in some selected areas. "I have served Congress for 36 long years and what they did to me in the last 10 years is known to everyone," he said.
"The Hooda government has always focused on New Gurgaon and Old Gurgaon areas have always been neglected," Indrajit said. While being in Congress, Inderjit had floated Haryana Insaaf Manch to fight against this alleged discrimination. It has been merged with BJP after he joined the party.
"Since I wasn't heard in Congress, I had to float Insaaf Manch to raise my voice," he said. Singh said he will continue to raise the issue of land grabbing by certain politicians.
If elected, the 63-year-old leader said, he will work towards infrastructural development of old Gurgaon.
"Public transport is such a huge problem in the areas of Old Gurgaon. I will ensure that the Dwarka metro is connected to these areas, since the rapid metro has only benefited the newly developed areas of Gurgaon," he said.
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