Ramesh Kumar, a daily wage laborer from Chandrakallan village in Tohana assembly constituency of Fatehabad district, proudly says that his son has secured a permanent government job as a lineman purely on merit. His son is the first in the family to achieve this milestone.

About 150 km away, in Mithi Surera, a village near the Rajasthan border, Rajinder, also a labourer, is celebrating his daughter’s recent selection into the Delhi Police. Mohanlal says that out of more than 2,600 registered voters, at least 30 youths from Mithi Surera village were recruited by the Haryana government in various permanent posts like lecturer, school master and sub-inspector in the last five years.

These are not isolated instances of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) promise “Banna Perchi Aur Bina Karchi Bharti”—a slogan echoing in Haryana’s hinterlands ahead of the October 5 assembly polls.

As candidates in the polls are often behind schedule, unemployment and merit-based recruitment are among the many other hot topics of discussion among people gathered on village chupals awaiting the arrival of the party’s nominee.

According to Kuldeep of Chandrakallan village of Tohana division, at least 70 youths have got regular jobs in the state government. “Apart from Group-D, some other people were also recruited into the police force,” Suresh hastened, adding that among the recruits are those from poor families.

“Around 18 people from our village were recruited as linemen alone,” says Ramesh Kumar, whose son was recruited as a lineman, and Shyam Lal speaks: Will there be many people in the government without any travel? The number of recruits from Chandrakallan is not 60 but around 70.

Ritesh, a youth who was not selected, said that among the recruits from his village are educated youths while some others have also been posted on contract basis. “No one has spent a single penny,” Ritesh said while Lisa Ram, another place in Fatehpuri, said around 15 people from her village had got permanent jobs with the Haryana government on merit.

However, in Budhiankhera village, Kuldeep Singh, a post-graduation student from Dingra village in Tohana segment, said: “No one was elected from my village during the BJP government, while the Congress A large number of people, including my uncle, were among the lucky ones who got government jobs.

A similar but heated war of words erupted in Mithi Surera, a village of about 2,600 voters bordering Rajasthan, over the recruitment issue as villagers awaited the Congress candidate.

“Has the government done our children a big favor by recruiting them?” An old man advises Rajendra, whose daughter has joined the Delhi Police. “Sarkar maari nahi ji,” Rajendra started a heated war of words, confronting the old man. “Our children were recruited without a slip and a scratch. Isn’t that a fact?” Another villager says Kishan Kumar.

Echoing these views, Om Prakash, a farmer and daily wage labourer, said: “Around 20 youths from our village were recruited, most of them in Group-D.” But Mohanlal and Kishan Kumar, another daily wage labourer, disagree. “About 30 boys and girls were recruited from Mathi Surera. Five of them got big jobs like sub-inspectors, one became a lecturer, another a master. Honestly got jobs.”

In a state where government jobs have traditionally been dogged by allegations of favoritism and corruption, the BJP is hailing its “no-slip, no-spend” recruitment policy as a historic success during the election campaign.

In their public relations programmes, BJP leaders say that in the last 10 years, the BJP government in Haryana has provided 1,46,000 permanent government jobs on the basis of merit. BJP has promised 2 lakh government jobs after coming to power for the third consecutive time.

The beneficiaries of these merit-based recruitments are now emerging as vocal supporters of the BJP’s governance model.

“I never thought I could get a government job without the usual ‘procedure’ system, but this government proved me wrong,” said a teacher who was recruited a year ago. Further said that recruitment is based solely on merit and performance and without financial transaction. Life is changing.

Such accolades are becoming an important factor in the BJP’s election campaign as the party desperately tries to woo the youth who value merit over manipulation.