Chautala holds all the trumps
By Yoginder Gupta

THE contest for the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana has virtually become a straight fight between the Indian National Lok Dal-BJP combine and the Indian National Congress, with the so-called third force, represented by the Haryana Vikas Party of the former Chief Minister, Bansi Lal, and the Bahujan Samaj Party, marginalised in the process.

The INLD-BJP combine’s campaign reminds political observers of the days of the elections held in Haryana in 1987 against the backdrop of the ‘Nyaya Yudh’ launched by the grand old man of state politics, Devi Lal or Tau, who was assisted by the late Dr Mangal Sein of the BJP. The duo had created such an atmosphere in the state at that time that the Congress was reduced do just five seats in the House of 90.

Continuing the same tradition, of course to a lesser extent, Tau’s son, Om Prakash Chautala, and Ram Bilas Sharma, who, after the exit of Sushma Swaraj and Suraj Bhan from state politics and the demise of Dr Mangal Sein has emerged as the tallest (both literally and figuratively) Haryana BJP leader, are busy these days in trying to resurrect 1987 in 1999. There is only one difference. While Devi Lal matched Dr Sein’s oratory with his personal popularity among farming communities, which virtually worshipped him in those days, now both Chautala and Sharma are equally powerful orators. Will they be able to emulate their seniors? Only time will tell.

The ensuing Lok Sabha elections in Haryana are being perceived as to have a bearing on the State Assembly. If the INLD-BJP combine is able to perform exceptionally well in the Lok Sabha elections, the state will be in for the next Assembly elections in the next few months because Chautala would never like to compress what could be a five-year term into one-and-a-half years innings. Haryana has always been politically volatile. People in the last two decades have not voted a sitting ruling group to power for the second successive time.

The ouster of Bansi Lal as Chief Minister before the Lok Sabha elections immediately changed the playing conditions for the current match. Lok Dal workers were a demoralised lot following the party unenviable performance in the Assembly elections of Delhi and Rajashtan. Chautala’s elevation as the Chief Minister and reversal of several unpopular decisions of the Bansi Lal government immediately electrified the INLD workers.

Congress workers, on the other hand, were unnerved. They were flabbergasted by the party leadership’s action in first saving the Bansi Lal government and then ditching it within a month. No explanation by its leaders could convince the Congress workers that the actions of their party were well-thought out. Even certain party leaders showed signs of panic publicly. The AICC secretary, Selja, refused to contest the Sirsa seat represented by her and her father several times even after her nomination was announced by the party.

The Congress high command fielded all the three top leaders of the Haryana unit, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Bhajan Lal and Birender Singh so that they remain busy in their own campaigns instead of undermining each other. But reports, which remain uncontradicted, that the three either wanted to change their existing constituencies or did not want to contest further projected the party in a poor light.

Though the high command succeeded in containing the three leaders to their respective constituencies, the strategy has deprived the party of star campaigners. None of the three top leaders are able to campaign for the party in the constituencies other than their own.

The top Congress leaders stress in their constituencies that the current Lok Sabha elections will decide who will be the next Chief Minister of Haryana. All the three project themselves as the party nominee for the top post. But for this, they say, they must win from their constituencies so that they could make the area as the centre of power. Birender Singh, whose constituency, Hisar, falls both in the Deswali and Bagri belts, has to adopt different postures, depending upon the place he is campaigning in.

When he is in the Deswali belt (which falls in Jind district), Birender Singh tells the electorate that because of lack of unanimity among them, the centre of power had always remained in the Bagri belt (read Hisar, Sirsa and Bhiwani districts) because of which the Deswali belt had been unable to get its rightful share in jobs and development projects. Birender Singh, who belongs to Jind district, promises to tilt the balance in favour of the Dewali belt once he becomes the Chief Minister. Of course, he drops the issue of the alleged imbalance in development when he campaigns in the Bagri belt.

Hooda tells his electorate that only he could ensure a rightful place to Rohtak, considered to be the political capital of Haryana, in the politics of the state. Therefore, if the Rohtakis want choudhar to be in their district, they should vote for him. The three famous "Lals" of Haryana come from the Bagri belt.

Bhajan Lal promises to make Karnal as Paris of Haryana if he is elected as an M.P. and subsequently becomes the Chief Minister.

All the three top Congress leaders are locked in a fierce battle in their constituencies. Their supporters are lukewarm to the campaign of their rivals, if not busy in sabotaging it.

The Congress’ fortunes depend on the claim of being the only party which can provide a stable government. Though the Congressmen invoke the name of Sonia Gandhi in every second sentence, they avoid mentioning directly that she would be the Prime Minister if the party forms the government. But the voter is not taken in by this camouflage. The Congress leaders also devote considerable part of their speeches to explain why it is wrong to describe Sonia as a foreigner.

The Lok Dal-BJP combine highlights the virtues of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee under whose leadership, its says, India has been able to isolate Pakistan in the world community for the first time. The success in the Kargil sector is attributed to Vajpayee. Chautala and Sharma tell the electorate that it has to decide whether the country should have an experienced Prime Minister or a Italy Ki Mem who has been "planted in the country by the Italian mafia". They exploit Sonia’s foreign origin to the hilt and say how she can never understand the Indian ethos and customs.

The Lok Dal-BJP combine has succeeded in making Vajpayee a factor in the Lok Sabha elections. The voters not committed to any party openly say that Vajpayee is a better Prime Minister material and should get a full term. Even Congress supporters admit in private that the Vajpayee factor is influencing the voters.

The HVP, which contested four Lok Sabha seats in the last two elections, is in the fray only in Bhiwani and Faridabad. It is supporting the BSP in Ambala, Mahendragarh and Karnal. In Faridabad, the party is in the field only for record sake. There also it is virtually a straight contest between the Congress and the BJP-Lok Dal combine. Elsewhere, the HVP is non existent. While the party is supporting the Congress in Sirsa, Sonipat and Rohtak, its leaders are helping INLD nominee Kailasho Saini in Kurukshetra because Bansi Lal and Congress nominee O.P. Jindal do not see eye- to -eye.

Bansi Lal has said that due to a delay in seat adjustment with the BSP and shortage of sources, the party could not contest the remaining seats. He also claims that the HVP would be a force to reckon with in the next Assembly elections. But many in Haryana do not see a bright political future for the HVP if it loses the Bhiwani seat. Already many of its important leaders have quit to join the other parties.

The electrifying effect of Chautala’s chief ministership on his workers and the Vajpayee factor together have put the INLD-BJP combine in a dominating position in Haryana as far as the Lok Sabha elections are concerned.