E-Paper
MLA report card: Harchand Kaur and F Nesara Khatoon
Hindustan Times takes a look at Punjab MLAs and their performance:
Harchand Kaur, 60,Congress
Constituency: Mehal Kalan (SC)
Education: Class 10
Assets declared in last polls: Rs 29 lakh
Electoral record
2012: Defeated Gobind Singh Kanjla of SAD by a margin of 7,391 votes
2007: Won Sherpur seat that existed then; this seat came up later in delimitation
Assembly record
Questions asked: 5
Call attention moved: 0
Power punch Old-style leader who banks on connect with the rural masses
What next Likely to gain get the ticket
How she performed
Being in opposition, she could not bag any major project for her constituency. However, she raised matters related to the Shagun scheme, MGNREGS wages, water purification systems, on the floor of the assembly. She demanded the mandated minimum wages for mid-day meal workers instead of `33 per day. She also backed farmers who had applied for tubewell connections since 1990 but had not got them. She complained that halqa in-charges of the SAD were having a say in allotment of connections. To date, there is no college in the constituency and employment opportunities are not bright. Her name was included in the state advisory committee for transport, legal affairs, elections, employment generation and training. She says she was never invited to meetings of the committee.
Voter speak
She visits our villages often and remains accessible. She has an accommodative nature, but she could not do much for our area as an opposition MLA.
Bharat Bhushan, 45, businessman
We are still struggling for basic amenities in our area. Roads are in deplorable condition, so is the sanitation system. As she is in opposition, she could not do anything major.
Harvinder Singh, 34, pvt firm employee
By the way
Husband Sant Singh works as her PA
F Nesara Khatoon,61, Shiromani Akali Dal
Constituency: Malerkotla
Education: BA
Assets declared in last polls: Rs 96 lakh
Electoral record
2012: Defeated Congress candidate Razia Sultana by 5,200 votes
2007:Didn’t contest; Razia Sultana won the seat for the Congress
Assembly record
Questions asked: 0
Call attention moved: 0
Power punch Wife of former top cop Izhar Alam, who is close to Sukhbir
What next Likely to again get the ticket
How she performed
The 2012 election in the only Muslim-majority segment in Punjab was a proxy war between two senior police officers, Izhar Alam and Mohammad Mustafa. Alam’s wife F Nesara Khatoon defeated Mustafa’s wife Razia Sultana. Khatoon has lately started meeting people directly, and her term has seen injection of funds into civic work. Also using funds of waqf board led by her husband, she claims credit for upgrade of schools, a new college, and revival of some old mosques. The town also came under the AMRUT project, in which Centre will give `200 crore in the next three years for urban rejuvenation. But unplanned colonies have derailed the development work. The town saw burning of a Quran early this year, which triggered protests in which Alam’s house was also attacked.
Voter speak
Roads were constructed at a large scale during her regime; and residents received proper drinking water supply. Religious harmony also remained intact.
Rakesh Jindal, 40, businessman
Heaps of garbage remain a regular feature here. There is an inadequate sewerage. She has failed to generate any employment opportunities in the area.
Zamam Aamir, 19, student
By the way
Fellow Akalis find her chaste Urdu hard to decipher
Tomorrow: Amargarh, Dhuri, Sangrur, Nabha
