‘Seen no change here in past 10 years’: Sohna voters demand better civic infra

Gurgaon: The Sohna assembly constituency, which comprises 56 villages, has long struggled with inadequate civic amenities, such as water and electricity supply, broken roads, schools and employment opportunities. The area is now witnessing a new real estate boom with many new projects coming up. Despite these changes, civic issues continue to plague the constituency.
With a large population of Ahirs, as well as Gujjars, Jats, Rajputs, and Muslims, Sohna's diverse regional ethnicity has often led to caste-based politics and polarisation.The seat has a total of 2,83,000 registered voters at present, with 292 booths built for the Oct 5 polls.
In 2019, the Sohna assembly constituency had a total of 2,30,071 electors. The total number of valid votes in the polls was 1,63,499. BJP candidate Sanjay Singh won, securing a total of 59,117 votes. JJP candidate Rohtas Singh stood second with a total of 46,664 votes, losing by 12,453 votes.
Over the past 10 years, urban areas of Sohna have seen some development related to roads, health, and electricity, but rural areas have been left untouched, according to residents. Locals recently demanded that political parties field local candidates who reflect their needs and aspirations, instead of giving tickets to ‘outsiders'. On Aug 27, residents of around 100 villages in Sohna and Tauru conducted a mahapanchayat to oppose "outsider" candidates for the upcoming assembly elections. The mahapanchayat threatened to boycott the upcoming polls if political parties field candidates who are not locals.
Since 1972, none of the MLAs elected from the Sohna assembly constituency are from the area. They mostly belong to adjoining districts and constituencies.
IMT Sohna, which was expected to bring employment opportunities to the area, has failed to attract major firms, leaving the local population struggling for jobs.
"There are no universities or colleges in this constituency. As a result, a majority of the population is not very well educated. There is a lack of employment opportunities. Even the development of Sohna-Palwal Road (NH-919) and DND Delhi-Vadodara Expressway has not resulted in any benefits for locals. We want a candidate who will focus on education and generation of jobs for our youth," said Om Prakash Gaur, a resident of Sohna.
Another resident, Manish Khatana, said: "Nothing has changed on the ground all these years. IMT Sohna failed to attract any major firms and thus no employment was generated. We have been suffering for the past 10 years."
Elections were held for the Sohna Assembly seat for the first time in 1967, when Independent candidate Rao Mahavir won.
BJP first won the seat in 2014, with Tejpal Tanwar becoming the MLA. In 2019, BJP again won, with Sanjay Singh elected as the MLA in 2019. Singh is currently a minister in the Nayab Singh Saini-led govt, a first for Sohna.
Political parties seem to have taken into account voters' demand for local candidates — this time, the four top contenders in the electoral fray include Tejpal Tanwar from BJP, Rohtash Khatana (Congress), Sunder Bhadana (BSP), and Dharmendra Khatana (AAP), all from the Gujjar community and residents of Sohna. Political experts expect it to be a tough contest between BJP and Congress this time.
There are six other candidates in the poll race — Ataullah Khan from the Loktantra Suraksha Party, Vinesh Kumar from the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshiram), and Independent candidates Kalyan Singh, Javed Ahmed, Dayaram, and Subhash Chand.