By installing Naib Saini on the chair of state president , the BJP is trying to woo the OBC vote bank in Haryana . Ahead of the forthcoming parliamentary and assembly polls, The saffron BJP has on Friday appointed Lok Sabha MP Nayab Singh Saini, belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC), as the Haryana unit president replacing Om Prakash Dhankar while OP Dhankhar has been appointed a national secretary of the party.
The appointment of Nayab Saini who is an MP from Kurukshetra Loksabha, is being considered as a strategic move to woo the voters belonging to OBC community. One of the senior party leaders said that his appointment may help the party strengthen its hold among the OBC community ahead of the polls as the support of Jats, who constitute the maximum vote bank in the state community in the state, is largely seen to be divided among the main opposition Congress, JJP and the INLD. Notably, the JJP is an ally of the BJP in Haryana and the party leaders Dushyant Chautala hold the portfolio of the Deputy Chief Minister. Notably, these appointments were made by BJP national president JP Nadda. Removing OP Dhankar from the post and assigning him new responsibility indicates a hidden political meaning.
Dhankhar is one of the most dominationg Jat bigwigs in the BJP while Naib Saini is believed to woo OBC voters in upcoming polls. Political experts are of the opinion that removal of Dhankhar and installation of Naib Saini on the chair is also considered very crucial in terms of caste equations. Caste equations also exist as the crucial factors. A few months ago, caste-based population data was shared by the government and prior to this, no such official information was made available. Since the figures of the caste-based population of the state have now come to the fore, all the parties are working on this angle in a bid to woo the voters. Out of the total verified 68 lakh families and 2.83 crore people in Haryana, there are a total of 1368365 SC families and the number of people from the families is 5861131 which constitutes 20.71 percent of the total families. Similarly, the number of people from BC (A) and BC (B) category families is 4793312 and 3797306 constituting 16.93 percent and 13.41 percent respectively. On the other hand, the number of BC (A) and BC (B) category families is 4793312 and 3797306 respectively. It is pertinent to mention that at the same time, the Jats constitute the maximum number of voters in the state. In wake of this, by appointing Naib on the chair of state president, the BJP is eyeing the OBC voters.
According to the sources associated with Haryana BJP, Chief Minister Manohar Lal had discussed the organisational setup of the partyin his recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi held recently. The CM requested the PM to give equal representation to the BC community as it constitutes a sizable chunk of the total vote bank in Haryana and a leader from this community should be made the state president. Since Naib Singh Saini from the BC community was the first choice of Chief Minister Manohar Lal, the party high command approved his choice appointing Saini the state president.