With the nomination process ending for the Haryana assembly elections, the principal battle appears to be between the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is in the government, and the Indian National Congress. The electoral arena turns complicated with the presence of the Aam Aadmi Party, and two regional outfits, the Indian National Lok Dal and the Jannayak Janata Party. Can the results on October 8 indicate whether the mood of the voter changed five months after the general elections? Explains Political Observer and Writer K V Prasad
In three weeks from now, the people of Haryana will cast their vote to elect a new government in the state. With the close of nominations on Thursday, the battle lines for the October 5 polls are crystal clear. The incumbent government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party faces a challenge from its principal political opponent, the Indian National Congress, raring to wrest back the right to govern the state. The presence of the Aam Aadmi Party, and the two regional parties, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), and the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), with tie-ups with Bahujan Samaj Party and the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) make the contest a bit crowded for the 90-member assembly.
Reports from the state indicate the governing BJP goes into these polls with the factor of incumbency weighing against it. In the saddle for the last 10 years — forming a government on its own in the first term and then in a coalition with the JJP, the BJP appears to be a drawn-down version of the party that it was a decade ago.
In an attempt to arrest the decline, the party effected a change of leadership during March bringing in Nayab Singh Saini in the place of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. By placing Saini at the helm just before the Lok Sabha polls the BJP sought to woo the scheduled castes/Dalits who form slightly over 20% of the population.
The BJP’s traditional support base has been among the upper caste Brahmins, the trading community, and the Punjabi. The former Chief Minister Khattar belonged to the latter community. By handing over the office to him in 2015, the BJP brought up a major change in the state politics in which the Jat community dominates.
Constituting about 21% of the population, the Jats have held a strong grip over political leadership both on account of their majority status and being the land-owning farmers in a state where agriculture is the primary vocation.
Since the days of one of its tallest leaders Devi Lal, the Jats played a major role in state politics and a section aligning with the Congress. To break this stranglehold, in the mid-1980s, Bhajan Lal worked to consolidate the non-Jats and held on to the reins of power.
Now, the Devi Lal clan is split into two. Ahead of the last assembly elections the JJP formed by his great-grandson Dushyant Chautala, contested separately winning 10 seats, and lent crucial support to the BJP that fell short of majority in 2019.
The alliance in general and JJP, in particular, weathered the major farmers’ protests with Dushyant Chautala, as the Deputy Chief Minister, resisting immense pressure mounted by the community to draw distance on the three controversial farm laws enacted by the Modi government.
