Not in race for CM post, Gurugram a civic mess due to BJP-JJP alliance: Rao Narbir Singh

Gurugram: Amid squabbling within the BJP over the chief minister's post in Haryana, former minister Rao Narbir Singh has said he is not in the race and wants to focus on Gurugram, which has turned into a "civic mess" due to his own party's coalition with the JJP from October 2019 till March 2024, a period when he was not in the government.

The three-time cabinet minister, who was denied a ticket by the BJP in the 2019 assembly polls, has been fielded by the party this time from Gurugram's Badhsahpur, the largest constituency in the state in terms of number of voters.

Narbir Singh had defeated veteran Rao Inderjit Singh in 1987 and became the youngest to hold the office of the state's home ministry at the age of 26. He also held the transport, food and civil supply and cooperation portfolios in successive governments.

Singh was also the PWD and forest minister in the first term of the Khattar government from 2014-2019.

Senior BJP leaders Rao Inderjit Singh and Anil Vij have said they will be staking claim to the CM's post if the party forms government in the state. However, Narbir Singh has no such ambitions.

"The central leadership has already announced Nayab Saini as the CM face. I don't think they will change it now. I am not in the race for it. Several years ago, I tried to become the CM but now I do not have any misconceptions. I want to focus on Gurugram and I am in the race for a ministerial berth, that's it," he told PTI in an interview.

Narbir Singh (63) announced last month that if he is not fielded by the BJP this time, he would contest from the constituency as a Congress candidate.

"I agree Gurugram is a civic mess currently. We have the worst waterlogging, worst roads and traffic crises and the city has turned into a garbage dump. The last five years not just brought the city to a standstill but reversed the pace of development," he said.

The BJP and Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janata Party formed an alliance in October 2019 which broke up in March 2024.

"I blame the coalition for it (the Gurugram's civic problems). We had a majority government from 2014 to 2019 and anybody can question the pace of development but things went downhill since 2019. It was our coalition with the JJP which is to be blamed.

"The civic infrastructure department was with the JJP and they didn't do anything and people are disappointed that despite the BJP being at helm of affairs, no work has been done," he added.

About the party's earlier promises of turning Gurugram into Singapore, Singh said, "I have never said I will turn Gurugram into Singapore. Let Gurugram be Gurugram but not in the state it is today." Severe waterlogging, choked traffic, broken roads and garbage dumps are major issues in the constituency which has more than 5.2 lakh voters.

"I have chalked out a plan for an effective drainage system in low-lying areas of Gurugram to avoid waterlogging and zone-wise pickup and treatment of garbage to avoid dump being created at one place. Once elected, I will place these proposals before the government and hopefully in the next two years, we can address these two problems," he said.

"Traffic is a big-big mess. Over 10,000 new private cars get registered in Gurugram every two months. This rapidly increasing volume of vehicles is one factor but bad condition of roads is also one.

"We need at least 20 signal-free underpasses in the city to control the internal Gurugram traffic and as far as the commute to Delhi is concerned, only an elevated road from Dhaula Kuan to Manesar is the solution," he said.

"(Union) Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari also is aware of the Delhi-Gurugram condition and we have discussed it before. I will raise a formal request for an elevated road after elections," he added.

Singh is pitted against Congress' Vardhan Yadhav in the constituency. Kumudni Daultabad, wife of incumbent Badshahpur MLA Rakesh Daultabad, is also in the fray. Polling for the 90 Assembly constituencies in Haryana is scheduled on October 5 and the counting of votes will be on October 8.