At 78, Rajasthan man in poll fray even after losing 20 elections in five decades
The daily wage earner always makes ‘land to the landless’ his poll plank and enters the fray every poll, be it panchayat or Lok Sabha polls
Teetar Singh, a septuagenarian man from Rajasthan, has contested every election in the state since the 1970s and each time forfeited his deposit, yet he is anything but despondent as he gets ready to try his luck one more time in the November 25 assembly polls.
“Why should I not fight?” the Independent candidate in the fray for Karanpur assembly constituency replied on being asked why he was contesting even after having lost about 20 elections so far.
“The government should give land, facilities… this election is a fight for rights,” the 78-year-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) worker said, asserting that he does not contest the polls for popularity or records. It is a weapon to achieve his rights, the edge of which has not dulled with age, the daily wage labourer claimed.
The septuagenarian said he has contested every election from panchayat to Lok Sabha polls but faced defeat every single time. Singh added that he is getting ready once again with the same passion and enthusiasm, and has filed his nomination papers for the assembly election later this month.
A resident of '25 F' village, Singh, a Dalit, said he decided to contest elections for the first time in the 1970s when he felt people like him were deprived of land allotment in the canal command area. His demand was for the government to allot land to the landless and poor labourers, and with this, he started entering the poll fray every time an opportunity came about.
Singh said he contested elections one after the other, but his demand for allotment of land has still not been fulfilled and his sons also work as daily wage labourers.
He told that he has three daughters and two sons and that even his grandchildren have got married. Singh added that he has Rs 2,500 cash as deposit capital but no land, property or vehicles.
Singh said on usual days, he works as a daily wage labourer under the MGNREGA but as soon as elections come, he shifts focus to campaigning for himself.
But the results have never been in his favour and he has lost deposits every single time. Singh polled 938 votes in the 2008 Rajasthan assembly elections, 427 in the 2013 assembly elections and 653 votes in the 2018 assembly polls.
(With agency inputs)
