Anti-incumbancy hits candidates in Karnal

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">KARNAL: Voters in Karnal are still dodging the candidates even though the polls are only two days away. <br /><br />Seemingly, there is no wave or "feel good" factor which may help various candidates in poll fray. The present political alignments and poll scenario has made Karnal seat a tough triangular contest.<br /><br />Both the BJP candidate, Union State Home Minister I D Swami and I.N.L.D. candidate Ashok Arora are equally affected by incumbency factor against central and state governments respectively. <br /><br />The Congress candidate Arvind Sharma who is being labeled as an "outsider", is also facing a similar fate. <br /><br />Caste considerations are weighing with every candidate and affecting their poll prospects.<br /><br />However, despite odds the badly capsized boat of Swami is likely to sail through if momentum and support gained by rebel Congress candidate Kuldeep Sharma is any indication. <br /><br />Kuldeep Sharma is fighting with the sole purpose of rocking Arvind Sharma''s boat as Congress has denied him ticket. His father veteran Congress leader Chiranji Lal who had won Karnal seat on four occasions and his elder brother Ashok Sharma who is an ex-senior Vice President of HPCC have been expelled from Congress for anti-party activities. <br /><br />Both Kuldeep and Chiranji Lal who have strong pockets of influence amongst 1.30 Lac Brahmin votes are taking away the Brahmin support from Congress. The victory chances of Arvind Sharma are proportionately related to number of votes polled by Kuldeep Sharma.<br /><br />A newly floated political outfit Ekta Shakti''s Raj Kumar Sharma is also directly damaging the Congress'' chances amongst Brahmin voters in Nilokheri Assembly segment.<br /><br />Another big disadvantage to Congress is its decreasing support amongst SC''s and BC''s. <br /><br />Only redeeming factor is the silent pro-Congress sympathies amongst non-Jat voters and employees. <br /><br />Hardly any Congress leader has so far visited Karnal to campaign for Arvind Sharma<br /><br />Arvind, however, has been able to enlist support of workers who had earlier sided with independent M.L.A Jai Prakash Gupta. <br /><br />I D Swami is unlikely to keep his victory margin of 1998 when he had trounced the redoubtable Bhajan Lal by about 1.50 lac votes. Swami told T.N.N that he was not bothered about media reports. He had covered entire constituency and was sure to ride even the anti-tide on the basis of his performance and pro-Atal sentiments of voters. <br /><br />In 1998 Punjabi voters which account for about 2.75 voters had polled for Bhajan Lal in majority. This time, balance is in their hands. But to Swami''s chagrin, Ashok Arora is making deep inroads amongst Punjabi voters. He held a Punjabi mahasammelan three days back to ensure and consolidate his gains amongst Punjabi''s. <br /><br />Swami who faced much criticism and wrath of voters in initial stages is slowly bouncing back along with Arora. The coming two days are crucial for candidates to garner voters'' sympathy in their favour.<br /><br /><br /><formid=367815></formid=367815></div> </div>