It’s a war to woo the soldier in Gurgaon

Sudha Yadav, a Kargil widow, takes on MoS, Defence Production, Inderjit Singh, on issues that affect ex-armymen

It's a war to woo the soldier in Gurgaon

Sudha Yadav, a Kargil widow, takes on MoS, Defence Production, Inderjit Singh, on issues that affect ex-armymen

With the General Elections knocking at its door, the newly carved constituency of Gurgaon is getting ready for

the war. On one side of the front is Minister of Stateu00a0 for Defence Production Rao Inderjit Singh of the Congress and taking him on is the BJP's Sudha Yadav, the wife of a Kargil martyr. Both are fighting to woo the large number of ex-servicemen in the constituency. "It is a contest between a soldier and a defence minister.

Yadav is not new in the electoral fray. She won the 1999 Lok Sabha election from Mahendragarh constituency on a BJP ticket. The party gave her the ticket after she lost her husband BSF Deputy Commandant Sukhbir Singh Yadav during Operation Vijay at the peak of the Kargil War.

But in 2004, she lost the seat to Rao Inderjit Singh. This time around, Sudha is confident that the ex-servicemen will support her to win back the seat.

Criticising the defence policy of the Congress-led regime she said, "Gurgaon is a land of brave soldiers who at regular intervals have made the supreme sacrifice for this country but unfortunately they have been disappointed every time."

Raking up the controversial issue of one rank, one pension to similarly placed officers and jawans after their retirement, she said, "Coming from a defence background I feel the pain of ex-servicemen. They are like my family. We will teach a lesson to the ruling party."

Singh too is expecting the former soldiers to support him. "I am hopeful of being supported by the ex-servicemen despite failing to fulfill their demands of one rank one pension," said Singh.

He said people of the constituency will reward him for setting up the prestigious National Defense University.
Singh also discounted the fact that Yadav's husband was a soldier. "He was not from the defence background. He was from the para-military forces," said Singh.

Reacting on the worsening law and order situation and the poor supply of electricity in Gurgaon, Singh said, "We had promised to provide 24- hour electricity but we failed. I am hopeful of improving it this time."
Haryana's 10 Lok Sabha seats go to polls in the fourth phase of elections on May 7.

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