Captain Abhimanyu has won the Narnaund seat by a margin of over 6,000 votes. He has long been touted as the next chief minister of Haryana. By the virtue of having held multiple positions within BJP and donned several roles, the 46-year-old ex-army officer proved to be the trump card for the charged up BJP that has been looking to expand its foothold in the state. There were strong signs of Abhimanyu edging past his rivals in Narnaund constituency, which was a stronghold of Chautalas or the INLD.
In Narnaund, it was a contest between BJP and INLD all through with the INLD candidate Raj Singh Mor looking like the only formidable rival for Abhimanyu. Mor had been trying to influence voters’ opinion by projecting how BJP government at the Centre is unfair towards Haryana and ignorant towards its issues. However, the recent arrest of INLD Chief Om Prakash Chautala made the voters skeptical about the party’s credibility.
Meteoric rise as a Jat leader
For Abhimanyu, it has been a meteoric rise as a Jat leader and a prominent face in Haryana politics. Taking a cue from Modi’s ‘good governance’ theme, the BJP candidate had built his campaign on the agenda of development.
Besides assuring creation of employment opportunities, he had also given hope to the 2 lakh electorate about eliminating the menace of female foeticide. In a wise step, he had reached out to the voters and touched upon their pain points including shortage of water and power supply.
Captain Abhimanyu managed to win the trust of the voters since he himself walks the talk by being a social worker for the past two decades. All his contributions are very much in public domain for all to see. As an individual, his stellar academic career, the gift of gab, and a wealth of knowledge surpassed the collective wisdom of his rivals in Narnaund constituency. That certainly gave him a competitive edge.
A true captain
As a true captain, he had played a significant part in devising party’s strategies for the elections and formulating the manifesto. He, according to Amit Shah, was sent from Delhi to Haryana with a specific purpose – “to light the flame of change in the state”.
