As the Parliamentary polls draw near, all political factions in Haryana are on toes to get a shot in the arm ahead of the forthcoming elections. The ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and its ally Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and main opposition parties Congress, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are also continuously brainstorming to finalize the names of the candidates for Lok Sabha polls. A couple of rounds of meetings have been held by Haryana BJP to finalize the names of Lok Sabha candidates.
In this series, it is pertinent to mention that the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Haryana will be fought under the leadership of Chief Minister Manohar Lal as the same became clearly evident from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address here on Monday during the inauguration program of Dwarka Expressway held in Gurugram who showered praises on Manohar Lal.
Even after the completion of two innings as Chief Minister, indicating that he continues to remain as first choice of the central leadership and is constantly in the good books of the party high command. Thus, the BJP leaders also once again got a clear indication that it is not going to be a cakewalk for those BJP leaders in Haryana having differences with Manohar Lal. During the aforementioned program, recalling old days’ memories, Narendra Modi said that “he and Manohar Lal have been chums. Manohar Lal used to drive a bike then, having me seated behind while going from Rohtak to Gurugram as well as traveling throughout Haryana.
It was an uphill task to go from Rohtak to Gurugram due to roads being narrow and in bad condition. Like earlier, we are still together for the betterment and the bright future of the people” Thus it is clearly evident from PM Narender Modi’s speech that Manohar Lal, he is the only BJP contender for the post of CM for the third consecutive time in Haryana. It is pertinent to mention that Modi’s public praise of the Manohar Lal had come at a time when the BJP Central leadership’s decision to remove three chief ministers, two in Uttarakhand and another in Gujarat, has prompted speculation about the fate of the CMs of other party-ruled states in 2021. Apart from this, the party high command is in constant touch with Manohar Lal regarding finalizing the candidates in the Lok Sabha elections. Apart from this, it is also learnt that in the upcoming assembly elections, MLA tickets will be distributed on the basis of Manohar Lal’s opinion poll.
In the last few months, Chief Minister Manohar Lal has succeeded in showcasing his unilateral hold as well proving his mettle in the Haryana BJP. In October last year, Citing to galvanise voters from Other Backward Classes (OBC, ) BJP stalwart and OP Dhankhar was replaced by Nayab Saini, who belongs to OBC and is believed to be loyal and in good books of the CM Manohar Lal. It is noteworthy that the differences between OP Dhankhar and Manohar Lal surfaced several times in the past but Dhankhar had to resign from the post due to the stronghold as widespread acceptability of the CM in the party. Similarly, despite there being several BJP contenders in fray for Rajya Sabha ticket in Haryana last month, the BJP has decided to send Subhash Brala, former state president and close one to CM Manohar Lal to Rajay Sabha. Having good tuning and bonding with PM Modi and the Party high command, Manohar Lal showcased his strength as well as strong hold in the party.
Apart from the above, Chief Minister Manohar Lal’s differences and widened rift with senior BJP heavyweight and Home Minister Anil Vij were surfaced several times even publicly but almost every time Manohar Lal had the upper hand in front of the high command Party’s. Similarly, Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit who took on his own government and Manohar Lal in public forums depicting his disappointment with the state leadership was not taken seriously.
However, it is a different matter that just before the Lok Sabha elections, the party high command has given him importance. BJP MP from Rohtak Arvind Sharma also immediately opened a front against former cabinet minister Manish Grover, who is considered to be very close to the Chief Minister, and also expressed his displeasure to Manohar Lal through , but nothing happened and ultimately he accepted unilateral hold of the CM. Apart from him, Birendra Singh, whose son and MP Brijendra Singh has left BJP and joined Congress, also raised questions several times about the working style of Manohar Lal and the BJP government, but the party high command also did not take it seriously.