Barmer (Rajasthan): In the ongoing Lok Sabha elections where political parties are putting in a lot of effort and resources to present their candidates to the public with a lot of pomp and show, there is little space left for independents, especially those who have limited resources and no outside political backing.
In Rajasthan, Barmer, a crucial Lok Sabha constituency where political parties have fielded veterans, an independent candidate, who has seen failure far too many times, is again trying his luck.
Popat Lal, 57, a resident of Balotra district, has made a case for himself out of all the failures that he has seen in the electoral field for the last several years. He says he has contested 13 elections, from the sarpanch to the assembly and the Lok Sabha polls, but has never won. To contest elections, Popat Lal claims he has sold everything, from domestic animals to his land, and his son and wife have worked as labourers. He is again trying his luck in the ongoing elections.
His affidavit for 2024 LS polls is, more or less, blank. His movable assets include Rs 5,000 as bank deposit, Rs 50,000 as cash, gold worth Rs 1.85 lakh. He has listed himself as a labourer.
Voting for the Barmer constituency will take on April 26 in phase 2 of the parliamentary elections. BJP has fielded sitting MP Kailash Choudhary, while Congress has fielded Ummeda Ram who has joined the party after quitting RLP.
Amid these bigwigs is Popat Lal. Never disheartened, he has again joined the electoral fray to contest for the 14th time as an independent candidate. The man keeps faith in his luck in the election every time. Interestingly, he never even submitted any claim for the ticket from any party. He has done his campaigning on foot from door to door, village to village, and appealed to people from his constituency to vote for him.
Popat Lal says that he had made his wife contest Sarpanch elections five times and Zilla Parishad once, although she too has lost in all of them. Against all the odds, he strongly believes that the people will support him this time.
