This city, known as the gateway to Haryana due to is location on the Delhi border, has never elected a non-Jat candidate in the past 11 Assembly polls. Though the Congress has been retaining the seat for two consecutive terms, but its dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections indicate that the Assembly elections are not going to be a cakewalk for the party anymore. A pointer to this being: this was the lone Assembly segment in Haryana and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s pocketborough, comprising Rohtak and Jhajjar districts, from where his MP son Deepender Hooda trailed in the vote count. Absentee MLA Like other parts of the state, the impact of Modi wave was evident here, but political pundits believe that the absence of Congress MLA Rajender Joon in the constituency is a major factor responsible for the people’s anger against the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections. Joon resides in Delhi and used to come to Bahadurgarh on alternate days every week. He disagrees with the opinion and said he always tried his best to spend maximum time among people. Consequently, the people have showered their blessings on him during two consecutive terms. People here say that ‘Chaudhar ka naara’ given by Hooda in the 2009 Assembly elections helped Joon retain his seat with a margin of 19,350 votes. Matter of concern Several colonies in Bahadurgarh city and the surrounding villages are still crying for drinking water and adequate power supply in spite of the state government spending a huge amount to resolve these issues. Chronic sewerage problem is also haunting the residents for the past several years. Though a bypass has been constructed to ease the traffic flow in the city, it persists owing to the mismanagement on the part of authorities in the wake of the ongoing construction of the Metro. Overhead high-tension electricity wires in residential areas is the another matter of concern. Locals have been demanding their removal as several people are killed every year on this count. The MLA, Joon, said a 100-bed hospital, a trauma centre, a new building of the women’s college, a filtration plant were the main development works on which he would be seeking votes. He added the perennial problem of drinking water had been redressed with the construction of water works in 29 villages. Migrants play a vital role Labourers play a vital role in the local bodies as well as Assembly polls as they comprise a considerable vote bank. Ravi Khatri, chairman, Bahadurgarh Municipal Council, said there were more than 50,000 labourers working in over 4, 000 factories. They hold the key to victory in at least three municipal wards.