Ahead of the bypoll for the Baroda assembly seat of Haryana on November 3, all parties are on toes, making all possible efforts to win the electoral battle.
Gathwala Khap might play a crucial role as about 35000 voters are from this Khap constituting around 15 percent of the total vote bank and more than 30 percent of the Jat vote bank.
Given this, all parties including Congress, BJP, and JJP continue to be in touch with Khap representatives.
There are a total 1,78,250 voters in Baroda and out of which, around 94000 are from the Jat community.
The Baroda seat comprises 54 villages while 16 villages belong to the Gahwala Khap. Keeping in view the whole scenario, no party seems to be in a position to ignore the voters hailing from this Khap.
Political experts are of the view that presently the Khap is a divided house regarding which party to vote for as the representatives failed to reach any consensus.
Many factions exist which are hindrance to the Khap reaching any consensus. A few days back, a meeting of the representatives was held in Chichdana where a feud among them was witnessed. It came to light that the Khap leaders from UP and other places were part of the meeting to decide whom to vote for.
It is learnt that they decided to support a candidate who hails from Malik-Gathwala Khap. Contrary to this, the National President of Khap Baljeet Singh Malik said that the Khap exists for social reforms, not for political vendetta so the Khap decided not to support any particular party or a candidate. However, Khap could prove to be a game-changer if it decides to vote for any candidate or party in Baroda bypoll.