How Anna's anti-Congress campaign may just breed corruption in Hisar

As campaigning for the Hisar bypolls culminates and Team Anna continues to draw swords with the Congress, the latter may have a point when they say that Anna’s campaign against the party in the Haryana city is contradicting his anti-corruption stand.

While there are about 40 candidates contesting the Hisar bypoll, which begins tomorrow, three are from major parties — the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Indian National Congress (INC). Oddly enough, the Congress candidate is the one that seems least corrupt — at least on paper.

The HJC candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi, has a case of attempt to murder, rioting and voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty. The INDL — which has an alliance with the BJP in Haryana — candidate, Ajay Singh Chautala has two cases registered against him, charges for which includes criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery. As for cases against the Congress candidate, Jai Parkash — they are nil.

Bishnoi is the son of former chief minister of Haryana Bhajan Lal, who died in June this year. The HJC seat was left vacant after Bhajan Lal’s death.

Among the three heavyweights, Bishnoi’s assets are worth 48.85 crore, Ajay Singh Chautala’s stand at 40.16 crore and Jai Prakash has declared assets worth 3.16 crore — an increase of Rs 31 crore, Rs 10 crore and Rs 2 crore respectively.

On Monday, Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh told CNN-IBN in an interview that Anna was taking a “contradictory stand” by his ‘vote against Congress’ campaign in Hisar.

“I’ve always held him (Anna) in highest regard and even today I hold him in highest regard, but it is a contradictory stance that he has taken,” Singh said. “If he wants to fight corruption, will he be able to fight corruption on the basis of his support to people who have been known for their corrupt actions?” he told CNN-IBN.

On the same day, Singh told reporters that Hazare was being “led up the garden path” by people who were against “weaker section and reservation.”

“I am extremely sorry, Anna is being led up the garden path by all those people who are basically opposed to the idea of Congress, weaker section and reservation,” the Congress general secretary has said.

Team Anna members, Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, who have been addressing meetings in the constituency appealing to voters against voting for the Congress, defended thier stance. Kejriwal said they were not supporting any particular candidate in Hisar irrespective of their ‘credentials or reputation.’

“The people should exercise their franchise carefully while ensuring that not a single vote is polled in favour of the Congress,” Kejriwal was quoted as saying in The Hindu .

Earlier, Singh had lashed out at Hazare for appealing to voters to defeat the Congress in the Hisar Lok Sabha bypoll despite knowing the credentials of other participating candidates. He called Hazare “a mask of all anti-Congress parties” .

In a constituency that has long been vanquished terrority, the Congress may not have much to lose. Parkash had won the Hisar seat in 2004 but finished third in the 2009 General Elections where he was unseated by HJC’s Bhajan Lal. The INLD came in second then.

With Team Anna’s mesage to Hisar voters to abstain from voting for the Congress, Parkash may yet again lose the Hisar seat. But, there’s no win in it for Hazare.

After all the drama, violence, hulaboo — and not to mention the much-publicised and supported hunger strike by Hazare — that has marked his anti-graft crusade for all these months, it’s ironical that his campaign in Hisar may breed fertile ground for just what he has been campaigning against: Corruption.

See comparison chart of political candidates in the Hisar bypoll: