Chandigarh: Stakes are high for the INLD and ruling BJP as 1.85 lakh voters cast their votes in byelection for Ellenabad Assembly seat on Saturday.
The polling will begin at 7 in the morning and will continue till 6 pm.
The prestige of Indian National Lok Dal, whose senior leader Abhay Singh Chautala resigned as MLA in January this year in support of farmers' demand, is at stake as he is embroiled in a triangular contest with Gobind Kanda of the BJP and Pawan Beniwal of the Congress.
Abhay Singh Chautala first won Ellenabad Assembly seat in a byelection held in January 2010 when he defeated Bharat Singh Beniwal of the Congress by a margin of nearly 5,000 votes.
He won this seat again in 2014 and 2019, but on both the occasions his nearest rival was Pawan Beniwal, a longtime supporter who contested against him on BJP ticket.
This time, Beniwal quit the BJP on farmers issue and joined Congress under the party's state Chief Kumari Selja.
Besides Beniwal, Abhay Chautala is also facing a challenge from Gobind Kanda, the younger brother of Haryana Lokhit Party MLA Gopal Kanda.
While INLD supporters are confident about his victory, particularly after farmer leader Rakesh Tikait's open support to Abhay Chautala, Kanda's supporters maintain that people would vote for the ruling party for development since the next elections are more than three years away.
"Abhay Chautala sacrificed his seat for the sake of farmers' issues. He is the only politician in the state to have taken such a brave decision, while some others are doing merely lip service. Ellenabad is a rural constituency comprising mostly of farmers. They will vote for the INLD and return Abhay Chautala to the State Assembly by a record margin," said senior INLD leader Jasbir Singh Jassa.
The BJP, however, maintains that people have made up their mind to elect Kanda.
Jasbir Singh, a BJP leader from Ellenabad, alleged that the INLD leader has been trying to disrupt BJP gatherings, which has not been liked by people. "I was assaulted by INLD men when I was coming out of a Gurdwara in the constituency. This has not been appreciated by people, particularly those from Sikh community," he said.
Singh said that people were also asking questions from the INLD leader that when he resigned from the seat against the three farm bills what the logic was in contesting when the Bills were still not repealed.
"With more than three years left for the polls, people will vote for development of the constituency," he said.
Beniwal, too, has not been leaving any stone unturned.
Kumari Selja has campaigned extensively in Ellenabad.
Though no campaigning is allowed on Friday, but the day will be crucial as all the three candidates are making last ditch efforts to win the seat.
With all the three considered rich politicians, apprehensions are being expressed that efforts will be made to woo poor voters with money.
For INLD, which has won this seat every time since delimitation, the victory is crucial, as this was the only seat the party had in the State Assembly.