Sri Ganganagar(Rajasthan): In the firmament of Rajasthan's poll firmament studded with heavyweights, he stands nowhere. Yet the wizened Teetar Singh,78, who has contested every election in Rajasthan since the 1970s and forfeited his deposit every time, is a standout.
As Rajasthan goes to polls on November 25, the Independent candidate Shrikaranpur assembly of Rajasthan, who has contested elections 32 times, is never shy of trying his 'elusive' luck one more time.
The 78-year-old MGNREGS worker is anything but despondent in the spirit that his fight is for rights. "Why should I not fight," the Independent candidate in the fray for Karanpur assembly constituency replies on being asked why he was contesting even after having lost about 20 elections so far.
Titar has contested 10 assembly elections and 10 Lok Sabha elections. Not only this, he has contested elections four times for Zilla Parishad, Sarpanch and for Ward Panchayat.
"The government should give land, facilities… this election is a fight for rights," the daily wage labourer says. By his own admission, he does not contest the polls for popularity or records. It is a weapon to achieve his rights, the edges of which have not dulled with age, Singh says.
The septuagenarian says he has contested every election from panchayat to Lok Sabha polls but faced defeat every single time. Singh is not hesitant to say that he is getting ready once again with the same passion and enthusiasm. He filed his nomination papers for the assembly election later this month.
A resident of '25 F' village, Singh, who is a member of the Dalit community, said he decided to contest elections for the first time in the 1970s when he felt people like him were deprived of land allotment in the canal command area.
His demand was for the government to allot land to the landless and poor labourers, and with this, he started entering the poll fray every time an opportunity came about. Singh says he contested elections one after the other but his demand for allotment of land has still not been fulfilled and his sons also work as daily wage labourers.
He is the father of three daughters and two sons and even his grandchildren have got married. Singh says he has Rs 2,500 cash as deposit capital but no land, property or vehicles. On usual days, he works as a daily wage labourer under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) but as soon as elections come, he shifts focus to campaigning for himself.
But the results have never been in his favour and he has lost deposits every single time. Singh polled 938 votes in the 2008 Rajasthan assembly elections, 427 in the 2013 assembly elections and 653 votes in the 2018 assembly polls.
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