ONCE just an innocuous piece of construction equipment and today a symbol of State power and politics, bulldozers are visible everywhere as campaigning hots up in Nuh. Not as a demolition tool but festooned, prettied up and embraced by all parties. Young people sitting on dozer blades, dancing and showering petals on crowds gathered on the narrow streets below are a common sight. Bulldozers may have earned a bad name but clearly not in this Haryana constituency, counted among the most backward in the country, where they are being used to further the festive election mood. The scene was very different just over a year ago when five people were killed in communal violence in the Muslim dominated constituency.

 

The violence later spread to adjoining Gurugram where a cleric was killed in an attack on a mosque. Following the violence, the BJP-led Haryana Government went on a demolition drive in Nuh, drawing allegations of “ethnic cleansing.” Then Chief Minister M L Khattar stoutly denied the charges. As terms like “bulldozer justice,” “bulldozer politics” or simply “bulldozing your way through” find their way into the discourse, both the Congress and the BJP are using the machine on wheels extensively this election. “The use of bulldozers in the poll campaign is to signify that any unscrupulous elements that try to disturb communal harmony in the district will face action. We believe outsiders were behind the violence which took place last year and then local residents are painted in bad light,” a Congress worker told PTI on condition of anonymity. His party colleague added that the use of bulldozers does not mean the party, fighting to wrest power from the BJP, stands for the action that destroyed houses or livelihoods of many during the demolition drive last year but just for a message of harmony.

 

“Plus bulldozers are crowd pullers,” he said. A BJP worker agreed. Also requesting anonymity, he said the BJP is deploying the large, lumbering machines in its campaign. “The bulldozer action happened last year only on illegal buildings and their usage in poll campaigns should not be seen in negative light. Just like other means of transport are used in poll campaigns, bulldozers are also being used.

 

They attract more crowds,” he said. It’s an all male show though with women watching the “bulldozer acts” from the confines of their homes, their faces often veiled as they watch the campaigning through half shuttered windows. Sultana, who was watching a poll rally in Kanwarsika village here from behind the grills of a window, said, “It is still not very common for women to attend poll rallies. The only way we would know about the campaign is through the loudspeakers. So if there is something interesting happening like this (bulldozers), we watch from the window.” Nuh, which was established as a separate district in 2005, from parts of Gurgaon and Faridabad has three Assembly constituencies---Nuh, Fereozepur Jhirka and Punhana. Congress’ Aftab Ahmed is seeking re-election as MLA from Nuh constituency. He is also Deputy Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Haryana Assembly. He is pitted against BJP’s Sanjay Singh and INLD’s Tahir Hussain.