Khaps root for unanimous poll

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jind, January 13

With rise in cases of violence during the panchayat elections, many khaps (caste councils) have taken an initiative to convince people to elect their panchayat members with consensus.

The Sarv Khap Panchayat (SKP), an association of various khaps, has asked all khap leaders to convince the maximum number of people in their respective villages to elect candidates with consensus to save money and maintain brotherhood in the villages.

“Khaps are working hard to persuade people to elect candidates through consensus. It will not only save money but also help in maintaining peace and brotherhood in the villages,” said Nafe Singh Nain, president of the SKP.

Nain and other leaders of his Benain khap have succeeded in getting elected sarpanches unopposed in many villages. After the intervention khap leaders, residents of Sulehra village, which used to see a bitter competition and clashes between the two Nain and Ghangas gotras of the Jats, elected a woman sarpanch with consensus to avoid clashes.

“Sulehra, Litani, Suryawala, Chitain, Rewar, Dhanoda and Bheemwala villages have elected their sarpanches unopposed after the intervention of the khap leaders. We are trying to convince people in other villages to election panchayat representatives with consensus to prevent clashes,” said Raghuvir Singh Nain, spokesman of the Benain khap.

With the intervention of Dhull khap, Harsola village in Kaithal district elected Naresh Kumar from the Ror community as sarpanch unopposed despite the fact that Ror has only 62 votes, while Jats have 2,800 votes in village, out of the total 3,200 votes.

“With our intervention, Harsola, Ram Rai Khera and Kheri have elected their sarpanches unopposed. Since khaps enjoy great influence in the rural areas, they are playing a positive role this time to prevent clashes,” said Inder Singh Dhull, president, Dhull khap.

Khap leaders have prepared special brief notes to spread awareness about the advantages of the unopposed elections. They have been highlighting that the unopposed elections would not only get Rs11 lakh developmental grants for the village, but villagers would also be able to curtain use of liquor during elections.

“We have been conducting regular meetings with villagers to convince them for he unopposed elections of sarpanches,” said Tek Ram Kandela, convener of the SKP.