It is not the political party that matters in Haryana, it is one family against another in the state politics. Family members of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal, former chief ministers Bansi Lal and Bhajan Lal, peasant leader Sir Chhotu Ram, the family of Chaudhary Ranbir Singh are all in the fray this Lok Sabha elections.
Due to its proximity to Delhi, the state has always sided with those in power at the Centre. The Lok Sabha elections to 10 seats in the state, due on May 12, will also give an indication as to who would have an edge when the state again goes for assembly elections five months later.
Caste equations
The state politics has been dominated by the Jat community. Four of the five political families depend on the Jat vote base—the single largest community which constitutes 29 per cent of the population. Only Bhajan Lal from the Bishnoi community managed to take control over the state on non-Jats votes. The current Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was something of an anomaly when the Bharatiya Janata Party chose him to be the chief minister after the saffron party's landslide victory in 2014.
The Congress, which won nine of the 10 seats in Haryana in 2009, could win only one, Rohtak, in 2014. There was a sharp decline in its vote share from 41.8 per cent to 23 per cent in the last elections. Its five MPs Ashok Tanwar (Sirsa), Naveen Jindal (Kurukshetra), Arvind Sharma (Karnal), Shruti Chowdhary (Bhiwani-Mahendragarh) and Avtar Singh Bhadana (Faridabad) were all defeated in the 'Modi wave'.
On the other hand, the BJP won seven seats with a huge jump in vote share from 12.1 per cent in 2009 to 34.8 per cent in 2014. The Indian National Lok Dal got two seats, the only regional party in North India to withstand the Modi wave.
The issue of reservations for the Jats still dominates the state politics apart from the problems of farming community. The state is also home to self-styled godmen such as Rampal and Guru Ram Rahim Singh, and these gurus have a dedicated following which can influence the voting pattern as well. Presently, both Rampal and Ram Rahim are behind the bars on criminal charges.
Wooing the Jat community has always been important to political parties to secure a win. Just before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress-led UPA at the Centre had granted OBC status to the Jats, paving way for their reservation in jobs and educational institutes. However, the move was set aside by the Supreme Court. Months after taking over the office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Jat leaders and assured them to find a solution to the issue. Modi's assurance helped the BJP in a big way to come into power in the state in the end of 2014.
But the community felt betrayed when a non-Jat Manohar Lal Khattar was appointed as the chief minister of the state. Upset over the government's attitude, in 2016, the Jats came out on the streets of Haryana in protest. The situation turned violent as several people were killed in the agitation. Moreover, it is learnt that ahead of 2019 polls, the Jats are again gearing up for a fresh agitation over reservation and has also demanded withdrawal of cases and release of youths arrested during the 2016 agitation.
Besides the Jats, other prominent communities include Dalits, Brahmins, Yadavs, and Baniyas, but their votes are divided among other parties. “Manohar Lal Khattar-led state government always wanted to divide the state in terms of caste. People have understood that the protests were orchestrated by the state government. People will take revenge of the death of 80 people during the agitation by voting against the BJP,” founder of Jannayak Janata Party, Dushyant Chautala said.
While the Congress do not want to talk about the critical issue of reservation, it said that the party is going into elections by exposing the failure of the state government in handling issues like farm distress, amendment in Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Bill 2019, non-completion of Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal, violent reservation agitation in 2016 and Dera violence in 2017.
Former chief minister Bhupender Singh Hooda said,” The BJP government has been completely exposed in the last four years. Farmers are in distress and industries are on the verge of collapsing. The BJP government is nothing more than an event management company. It has taken back Haryana from the path of development. The BJP had made 154 poll promises, but not even a single promise has been fulfilled till date.”
While, the BJP is banking on the image of Narendra Modi and also projecting nationalism as a poll plank, Haryana, whose population constitutes a large number of armed forces personnel; issues like 2016 Surgical Strike, IAF's Balakot air-strike and approval of one rank one pension are some of the key election issues.
The Dynasts
Dushyant Chautala had the record of being the youngest Member of Parliament at the age of 26 in 2014. The grandson of former Haryana chief minister and INLD chief Om Prakash, however, broke away from the parent party as their families fell apart. This time, he is representing the newly founded Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) after a split from INLD.
Dushyant and his younger brother Digvijay Chautala are taking on the two national parties the BJP and the Congress after forming an alliance with Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party in the state. The JJP is targeting the young voters below the age of 45 years. Being two young leaders to lead their own party, the brothers are often ridiculed for leading a “kid’s party”. “All movements are largely done by people at young age. I think Aam Aadmi Party was not made by the people above the age of 50. It was all about the people who wanted a revolution and majority of them were between the age group of 35-45. The Jannayak Janata Party is also on a similar track. Other parties like the BJD was also launched by people of similar age group and led to a bigger revolution. Leadership has no age.”
Dushyant is locked up in an interesting contest from Hisar with family members of two other political families—debutants Brijendra Singh of the BJP and Bhavya Bishnoi from the Congress. Brijendra Singh, a former IAS and son of Union steel minister Birender Singh, is also the great grandson of stalwart Sir Chhotu Ram. His mother, Prem Lata, is a BJP legislator in Haryana.
On the other side, former cricketer Bhavya Bishnoi is riding on the legacy of his grandfather Bhajanlal Bishnoi, former chief minister, and his parents, Kuldeep Bishnoi and Renuka Bishnoi, both Congress legislators in Haryana. Bhavya's grandmother, Jasmadevi Bishnoi, was a legislator earlier and his uncle (Kuldeep's elder brother) Chander Mohan, was deputy chief minister of Haryana.
"Cricket was first passion. But I feel politics needs me more than cricket. Though my love for cricket will always be there in my heart, I will serve the people of Hisar with dedication,” Bhavya, who holds a master of science degree in Contemporary India from Oxford University's St Antony College told THE WEEK, while campaigning in the constituency.
While majority of the people are more or less clear about the prediction of seats, Hisar constituency is the trickiest one.
“The BJP candidate has just resigned from his job and everyone knows what he has delivered during his stint as a civil servant. The Congress candidate is very young and has never been seen in the constituency,” Dushyant says about his opponents.
Brijendra Singh, 1998 batch IAS officer, whose resignation was accepted by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) only a day after the announcement of his candidature, says he always had an identity issue within himself. "I didn't want to be known as son of a senior politician. So I proved myself after joining the civil services". Taking a jibe on dynasty politics he said, “My opponents are here to take care of their family's political fiefdoms, nothing else. It may be a battle of legacy for them. But for me it’s not that.”
Bhavya Vishnoi has five main issues in his agenda viz. employment, agriculture, sports, women issues and environment. "Environment is something I feel passionately about ever since my childhood. Though Indians are only stuck to basics like roti, kapra and makan, environment comes last for them. To take up environmental issues in Parliament, you need to build a strong narrative for the environment. I will push for a legislation considering the fact it does not damage industries," the 26-year-old politician says.
Among the other 'dynasts' in fray in the Lok Sabha elections is Deepender Hooda, son of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, an MBA from Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, USA is contesting from Rohtak for the fourth time. After working for Reliance Industries and Infosys, junior Hooda joined politics in 2005 and has been elected to Parliament thrice. Bhupender Singh Hooda, who was the chief minister of Haryana from 2005 to 2014 and son of former minister (in undivided Punjab) Chaudhary Ranbir Singh, is contesting from Sonipat.
Former chief minister of Haryana and Union defence minister during the Emergency (1975-77), Bansi Lal's granddaughter Shruti Chaudhary is trying her luck from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh seat on a Congress ticket. In 2009, she represented Bhiwani in Lok Sabha. While her mother Kiran Choudhary is a Congress legislator in Haryana, Shruti's father Surender Singh was also a cabinet minister in Haryana.
“If you are from a political family, it helps you to get to the door. But then, you have to prove yourself,” Deepender Singh Hooda told THE WEEK.
With an aim to increase its vote share, the Congress has fielded its strong candidates from the state. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Deepender Singh Hooda, Ashok Tanwar and Kumari Selja are four key candidates, on which the Congress is heavily relying.
In Rohtak, which is also known as the political capital of Haryana, Deepender is also expected to face a stiff opposition. People are apprehensive about this victory as it is the first time he is contesting when the Congress government is not in power in the state. Arvind Sharma from the BJP is in direct fight with junior Hooda.
Besides, Rohtak and Sonipat, the Congress is expecting its two-time MP Kumari Selja to win from Ambala reserve constituency. The BJP has fielded sitting MP Rattan Lal Kataria against Selja.
In Gurugram, sitting MP and a minister in Modi government, Rao Inderjit Singh will be trying to retain his seat. However, both the Congress and the JJP-AAP alliance are working hard to woo about 4.5 lakh Muslims voters from the Mewat belt. The JJP-AAP combine has fielded Mehmood Khan, who has retired as a global leader of Unilever Innovation Process Development and was honoured with NRI Bharat Samman in 2011. The Congress candidate Captain Ajay Yadav was also eyeing to target Muslims votes from the area.
In Faridabad, the delayed announcement of former MP Avtar Singh Bhadana, a prominent Gujjar leader, will affect the party's chance to win a seat in the National Capital Region. The three-time MP Bhadana will face contest from sitting MP Krishan Pal Gujjar of BJP.
Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is contesting from Sonipat says the BJP government in the state and the Centre has not fulfilled any of its promises so far. “Now both INLD and JJP are alleging ties with the BJP. I believe both are working as proxy for the BJP.” The 71-year-old Hooda is challenged by 28-year-old Digvijay Chautala from the JJP.
“They were not willing to move from the retro style of politics. INLD leaders have become adamant and rigid and it led to our departure from the party," Dushyant Chautala, who returned from a university in London when his father and grandfather were booked by the CBI in corruption cases, told THE WEEK about the split in Chautala family.