Amid the possibility of simultaneous conduct of assembly and parliamentary polls, all political factions including the ruling BJP along with its ally Jannayak Janta ((JJP) and the opposition namely Congress, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Aam Aadmi party (AAP) are gearing up in a bid to emerge victorious. In wake of the prevailing political scenario, It’s caste polarisation that is most likely to play out a pivotal role forthcoming elections and no faction seems in a position to neglect the caste equations. Notably, the Jats constitute a sizable chunk of vote bank in the state which is believed to be around 30 percent of the total votes . Jat community however remained wary of the BJP, preferring to stay with the Jat leaders of the Congress, JJP and the INLD.
Be it ruling or opposition parties, all queue up to galvanise Jat voters. In the recent past, BJP has certainly succeeded in gaining sizable chunk of Jat vote bank in 2014 but the resentment of the Jat community against BJP on many issues is not hidden from anyone.It is estimated that BJP also takes 15 to 20 percent of the total Jat votes in every election.
Following the difference with the BJP during its second regime over several issues namely three contentious agro laws and women wrestlers’ sexual harassment issue, the Jat community is being upset and disgruntled with the saffron BJP. There are strong Jat leaders in all the parties in Haryana. At present, Congress veteran Bhupendra Singh Hooda is believed to have the unilateral hold in the Jat community presently. JJP leader and Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala and INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala belong to the Jat community.
Similarly, the list of the BJP Jat big shots includes Chaudhary Birendra Singh, Subhash Barala, Captain Abhimanyu and OP Dhankar but no one resembles Hooda in terms of string hold among the Jat voters. Assembly polls held in 2019 proved to be a nightmare for BJP jat leaders as most of them namely Subhash Barala, Captain Abhimanyu and OP Dhankhar contested the election unsuccessfully facing a debacle. Political experts are of the opinion that the ruling BJP was able to transcend Haryana’s deeply entrenched Jat politics during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections – where it swept all winning all 10 parliamentary seats but party does not seem in a comfortable position ahead of the assembly election due few months later as fat as its caste strategy goes.
But the community which has dominated the state’s politics for decades after Haryana came into existence 1966. Most of the Chief Ministers including Devi Lal, OP Chautala, Hukum Singh and Bhupendra Singh Hooda belonged to the Jat community including Bansi Lal. Bhajan Lal, a non-Jat, has been the Chief Minister for more than 11 years. Political experts are of the opinion that for several decades after 1996 – when Bhajan Lal stepped down as chief minister – the non-Jat voters had remained without a strong leader to galvanise and woo them. That vote bank was practically crying out for political succour after years of being ruled by strong Jat leaders like Bhupinder Singh Hooda of the Congress. Apart from this, the BJP performed unexpectedly well in the 2014 parliamentary elections, powered as it was by the Modi wave. So when a few months later assembly elections took place, the BJP dumped its ally the INLD and contested alone for the first time.
It is pertinent to mention that being five-times CM, OP Chautala ruled the state for a long time while Bhupender Singh Hooda was appointed the CM twice. The BJP which has unabashedly played non-Jat politics and is known for the same, is even actively encouraging the resultant polarisation in the state. Several districts adjoining to Delhi namely Rohtak, Jhajjar and Sonipat have traditionally been a stronghold of Jat leaders from Congress and INLD. In 2016, Sonipat district was at the centre of Jat agitation, which had left the region divided along caste lines, and whose effects were seen in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when voters overwhelmingly went with BJP. But political observers argue that assembly polls are a different ballgame, where national discourse and the image of central leaders are likely to make little dent.
POINTERS
-Jats in Haryana constitute a sizable chunk of total vote bank
-the community is believed to be upset with ruling BJP and JJP over several issues