Five-time Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is probably facing the toughest electoral fight in his seven-decade-old political career.

The people of his Lambi constituency, which is also home to the the 89-year-old leader’s village of Badal, are wondering how their lives have changed in the last 20 years, of which he was Chief Minister for 15.

With schools, a stadium, colleges, good roads, a bank and 24-hour electricity, Badal is different from other villages in the constituency. Though Badal is all set for a big win here, other villages in the constituency are not very happy with the Chief Minister.

“He listens to the rich and affluent,” says Amar Chand, a Dalit agriculture worker in the neighbouring Mana village. “We had complained to him that we get just ₹200 even if we work for 12 hours in the fields or in some factories. Women get less than half of this. He never listened to us,” Chand says, adding that after demonetisation zamindars had stopped paying them faulting the cash crunch.

The villagers of Mana had also asked the Chief Minister to find a permanent solution to the issue of managing waste from a cattle-shelter that houses about 200 cows. “Waste from this shelter and the houses creates a number of health problems for us. He is the Chief Minister, but did nothing to help us to solve this problem,” adds Kewal Singh.

Demonetisation is another issue that may create some hurdles for Badal.

Sukhmander Singh, a physically challenged farmer from Mana, has decided to vote for the Congress for its stance on demonetisation. “I am otherwise not a Congress supporter. Notebandi has impacted my vocation. I need 70 litres of diesel a day to use in the tractor. The labourers should also be paid. But the banks were giving less than half the amount I wanted,” he says.

But those in the village of Badal still root for the Chief Minister. “It was a wrong step. But it was a decision by the Narendra Modi government. How can the Chief Minister be blamed for it?” asks Sukhwinder Singh. He said though demonetisation remains an issue, people will vote for Badal for the changes he has brought to the village. “This area grew along with Badal. Now we have all amenities,” Singh added.

For farmers, the drought last year had worsened their situation. “I have four acres of cotton. I didn’t get anything due to drought. I got just ₹8,000 as compensation. We need more government support for farming,” says Jaswant Singh, an activist of Badal’s Shiromani Akali Dal and a staunch supporter of the Chief Minister.

But farmers are also vary about Amarinder Singh, the Badal’s prime challenger and former CM. “He is a raja. I don’t think he will understand our problems. The Chief Minister is son of a farmer. Supporting him will be better,” said another farmer from Badal.

The Aam Aadmi Party candidate Jarnail Singh, however, has not found much supporters in Badal or in Mana. “He threw his shoes at an elderly person. We cannot support such type of protests,” says Prithvipal Singh, an elderly villager, referring to an incident in 2009 when the AAP leader threw a shoe at then Home Minister P Chidambaram.