Politics, it is said, has no colour. Goes just right for Haryana, if one zooms in on some of the candidates fighting the Assembly elections from the National Capital Region.

Take this, for instance: the sitting MPs of both Faridabad and Gurgaon are from the Congress, but their family members are contesting on tickets from other parties. And in the run-up to the D-day — October 13 — there’s no love lost between them.

Earlier this year, Avtar Singh Badhana won the Faridabad Lok Sabha seat for the second consecutive time. But his sister Daya Badhana fell foul of the Congress rule — no relative, but for a sitting MLA, would get nomination — and failed to get a Congress ticket from either Ferozpur Jhirka, Punhana or Badkhal seats. Result: she is contesting on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) from Punhana.

Mayawati’s elephant is also the reigning colour for Badhana’s elder brother, former MLA Kartar Singh Badhana (contesting from Badkhal), his wife Shyamwati (from NIT), and son Manmohan (Samalkha, in Panipat district).

Badhana himself was with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) before joining the Congress. Brother Kartar Singh has moved from the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) to Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) before joining BSP.

Next comes Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjeet Singh. While he has been associated with the Congress his entire political career, younger brother Rao Ajit Singh is the state’s vice-president of INLD and is contesting from Ateli in Narnaul district for the Vidhan Sabha.

Rao Inderjeet’s youngest brother Rao Yadvendra Singh has stuck with the ruling and is contesting on a Congress ticket from Kosli seat in Rewari.

... contd.