This is the story of 78-year-old daily wager Titar Singh who has lost 31 elections till now. However, despite his bail getting confiscated every time, this MGNREGA worker’s passion for contesting elections has not diminished and he has filed his nomination for the 32nd time from Sri Karanpur Assembly constituency.
Titar Singh has already contested Panchayat Samiti, Sarpanch, Assembly and Lok Sabha elections but has never won any of these polls.Locals reveal that Titar Singh sold his goats several times to stand for elections.
Titar Singh is a resident of 25 F Gulabewala of Sri Karanpur Assembly area. He says that he fights elections not to gain popularity or make records, but because polls are a weapon to achieve one's rights.
“The passion to fight for his rights arose in Titar’s heart when he was young, because he got left out of allotment of land in canal areas. There were many people like him and that inspired him. He then started fighting for his rights and slowly it became a part of his personality.
“However, his demand for allotment of land has still not been fulfilled. He and his sons work as MGNREGA daily wage labourers,” say residents of the area.Titar Singh has contested Lok Sabha elections ten times, Legislative Assembly polls ten times, and he has stood 11 times for the district council chairperson and sarpanch and ward membership elections.
According to his affidavit, at present he is 78-years-old, has three daughters, two sons and grandchildren.He has a deposit of Rs 2500 in his account but no land, no cart or horses. Throughout the year he labours however, during polls, his life changes and he goes for campaigning from house to house, seeking votes. Sadly, his deposit gets confiscated every time he loses an election as officials say that he has never garnered more than 1,000 votes.
Titar Singh says that he also gets pension which helps him fulfil his daily needs but he never spends on campaigning.This senior citizen is not on any social media, however, his video went viral on social media on Monday when he was going to fill his nomination form.
When asked if he has ever met with any resistance from the people around, he says, “People never oppose but help in different ways.”