Faridabad has a special place in my heart. I have no hesitation in admitting that, I have a conscious bias towards Faridabad, as it is the town where I was born and brought up. The town used to be one of the best manufacturing hubs in Asia around 2 decades ago and I still remember that there was one slogan which was dominating the politics of Faridabad and Haryana in particular around that time (Late 90s).

Jahaan doodh dahi ka khaana, woh pradesh hai apna Haryana

जहां दूध दही का खाना, वह प्रदेश है अपना हरयाणा

Since then, we have seen that the politics of Faridabad is suffocating from the TINA (There is No Alternative) factor. Voters of Faridabad frequently change sides between politicians from traditional parties such as BJP and Congress. From BJP, they are given the option of choosing Krishan Pal Gujjar and from Congress they have Avtar Singh Bhadana as an option. But for the first time, voters in Faridabad have an option to choose a PhD candidate in the form of Naveen Jaihind over traditional netas like Krishan Pal Gujjar and Avtar Singh Bhadana.

I think, not many people know that Naveen (a product of Anna andolan and AAP) worked with Arvind Kejriwal as an RTI activist as well. Naveen’s tryst with politics started from his student days before he moved on as a social activist during the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement. After seeing the dominance of caste in Indian politics, he decided to drop his last name and replace it with “Jaihind”.

During his early days as a social activist, Naveen conducted a unique experiment in the form of “Chhaatra Adalat” (Student Court) – An open meeting between University officials and students wherein students used to describe their problems to the officials and solutions were found on the spot based on discussion.

As MP of Faridabad, I am sure, a candidate like Naveen will raise Faridabad’s issues and help Faridabad in reviving its lost glory.