Fighting for a third successive term – his campaign slogan was “Naveen Jindal on a hattrick” – the chairman of Jindal Steel and Power is optimistic of countering both the negative publicity over coal block allocations as well as the Narendra Modi factor.
Jindal has been an accessible member of Parliament to his constituents and most among the thousands that thronged his roadshows through Tuesday in Kaithal and Pundri towns feel he should win, though almost everyone quietly adds that the margin would be thinner than earlier (in 2009, Jindal had an advantage of over one lakh votes over his nearest rival).
The Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, Raj Kumar Saini, they say, is an outsider but will still get votes due to the people’s fascination with Modi. As for the others in the fray, no one, not even the Aam Aadmi Party will get any substantial votes, they claim.
Jindal himself discounts any effect Modi’s popularity will have on his prospects. He says the BJP leader is only a media creation, but admits that he has been marketed well. “The elections will pit my hard work of 10 years against Modi’s hyped image,” says the 44-year-old scion of the Jindal family.
Asked if the scandal over the coal block allocations hurt his campaign, Jindal says it would have been natural for some of his constituents to have been influenced by the allegations. “The CAG report was misleading in many places. On top of that the media too distorted everything,” he says.
“The report says that Rs 1.86 lakh crore was the windfall gain to these companies, but it also says that if the blocks had been auctioned, only a part of this would have been recovered. But the media only talked of the Rs 1.86 lakh ‘loss’.” His supporters, of course, have a ready rejoinder.
“The coal blocks were allocated to Jindalji by the BJP government. Isn’t it nonsense to talk of a scam then?” asks Ram Singh, white haired, mustachioed and gathered with some friends at a Congress roadside kiosk in Kaithal town. The others around nod their consent and say confidently that the Congress will win the seat once again.
There is one issue that Jindal hopes the new government will quickly address: a level playing field for the private sector.
“Discrimination between public sector and private sector must end,” he says. “The government gives step motherly treatment to the private sector in a bad way. This must end.” And then he clarifies his own statement. “I am not talking of the central government,” he emphasises, “but also state governments as well as the non-Congress governments.”
He feels that it is a mindset in both political parties as well as all governments to think of the private sector as being less important. “75% of our economy depends on the private sector and it should be shown due respect,” he demands.
Now that the campaign has wound down, Jindal will relax a bit, indulge in his favourite pastime of horse riding and take up business work that he “has neglected for over a month.”
On May 16, he will find out whether the people of Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts that make the up his constituency have heeded Raveena Tandon’s fervent plea to the people to vote for “her Naveen bhai and give him a hattrick”.