Ashok Tanwar, a staunch opponent of the BJP once upon a time , accompanied by his supporters joined the donned the saffron party on January 20 in the presence of BJP National President JP Nadda and Chief Minister Manohar Lal after bidding a farewell to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Ashok Tanwar, 47, was believed to be upset with the AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as per the party sources after he was denied Rajya Sabha ticket recently which made him quit the party. Since he has joined the BJP following his political ambitions and career, the BJP is eyeing to woo voters from SC (Schedule Caste) through the joining of Tanwar as he belongs to the community as believed to have held among the voters from the SC community. Notably, briefly being with Trinamool Congress Party (TMC),he has been in 3 political parties during the last four years after quitting Congress in 2019 following the feud with Congress bigwigs Bhupender Singh Hooda.
Tanwar’s entry in the BJP is being observed with two different aspects namely political ambitions of Tanwar as well as BJP’s expectations in revert from this. The Congress, the main opposition party in the state has several bigshots namely Kumari Salja and Udaybhan, from the SC community in a bid to voters while contrary to the same, whereas the BJP currently does not have any such big SC face. Following the demise of former MP Ratan Lal Kataria from the Ambala seat, there is no such stalwart from the community in the BJP. While being in Congress, Tanwar was influential among SC voters. In such a situation, BJP will try to bring SC category voters to its side through Tanwar.
It is evident from the statistics of Parivar Pahchan Patra that the SC community constitutes a sizable vote share in the state comprising around 20 percent of the total population. Apart from Ambala and Sirsa parliamentary seats, there are 17 reserved seats in 17 districts in Haryana. In such a situation, no faction does seem in a situation to neglect the SC voters.
Following the results of assembly polls held recently in adjoining Rajasthan and ongoing political scenario, the forthcoming polls are expected to be a multi-cornered battle between the ruling BJP-JJP and opposite faction the Congress, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), and AAM Aadmi Party (AAP) in the state and the same has forced to rekindle their focus on reserved seats. In such a situation, all the parties are brainstorming every possible strategy to woo the SC voters in a bid to ensure victory in the upcoming battle and BJP will now look to bring these SC voters into its fold through Tanwar. The BJP which registered a resounding victory in assembly polls in 2019 and the Congress are on toes to improve their performance and increase base in the constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes. Following the rules and regulations, Two parliamentary and 17 assembly seats will remain reserved till the year 2030.
Out of 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, 2 seats Ambala and Sirsa parliamentary are reserved while out of total 90 assembly seats in the state, 17 constituencies stand reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates till 2030 and the list of 17 constituencies reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates includes Guhla in Kaithal, Israna in Panipat, Kharkhoda in Sonipat, Nilokheri in Karnal, Narwana in Jind, Kalanwali in Sirsa, Ratia in Fatehabad, Uklana in Hisar, Bhawani Kheda in Bhiwani, Jhajjar includes Jhajjar seat, Kalanaur in Rohtak, Mullana in Ambala, Sadhaura in Yamunanagar, Shahabad in Kurukshetra, Bawal in Rewari, Pataudi in Gurugram and Hodal in Palwal.
Notably, the state government had divulged the information caste based statistics pertaining to populations and families revealing that out of the total verified 68 lakh families and 2.83 crore people, there are a total of 1368365 SC families while 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 worth noting that 72 lakh families had applied for PPP in the state. In view of this, the caste equations also exist as a crucial factor. Notably, the 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.
It is pertinent to mention that the Jats constitute the maximum number of vote banks, estimated from 25 to 30 percent in the state