25% of state’s population, Jat votes will play major role on 35 seats

Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 19

Before the BJP managed to mobilise non-Jats to come to power in 2014, Jats had always been a dominant factor in the politics of Haryana ever since the state was carved out in 1966.

Ever since Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar took over after the 2014 Assembly polls, there has been a churning among Jats to regain power which they have enjoyed for the most part of 54 years of the state’s existence.

With Haryana to go to the polls on October 21, all eyes are on which way the Jat community will vote this time.

Although no authentic figures of caste data are available, it is said that Jats comprise 25 per cent of the total population of the state. Jat votes are likely to play a key role on over 35 seats.

Of the leading three political parties, the JJP has given the maximum number of 33 tickets to Jats, followed by 26 by the Congress and 20 by the BJP.

During the past some decades, the Jats have been supporting the Congress and INLD.

While former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda enjoys the support of Jats of the Deswali belt of Sonepat, Rohtak and Jhajjar districts, Om Prakash Chautala had a base among Bagri Jats of Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar and Bhiwani.

In the Bangar area of Jind, former Union Minister Birendra Singh has always been considered the tallest leader.

A split in the Chautala clan, however, had decimated both the INLD as well as the JJP in the parliamentary elections.

Eyeing a share in the Jat votes, the BJP has included a number of Jat leaders, mostly from the INLD, in its fold in the run-up to the Assembly elections while some others had joined in the past.

Now, some of them like Parminder Dhull (Julana), Satish Nandal (Garhi Sampla Kiloi) and Babita Phogat (Dadri) are contesting the Assembly poll.

But will this get the BJP any considerable share in Jat votes is yet to be seen because the Jats, by and large, want a CM from their community and are likely to vote accordingly.

In fact, the fate of many Jat leaders of the BJP, including state BJP president Subhash Barala, Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu and Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar is hanging in the balance as it is not sure what percentage of Jats would vote in their favour in the Jat-dominated constituencies.

In Rohtak, Sonepat and Jhajjar districts, a major chunk of Jat votes is going with the Congress because of Bhupinder Singh Hooda while in Fatehabad, Hisar, Jind and Bhiwani, Dushyant Chautala has emerged as a major force. Surprisingly, Dushyant’s candidates in Rohtak and Sonepat have also started getting good response in the past some days.

“This is because of local factors. For instance, people wanted the Congress to field a local candidate from Kharkhoda, but the party fielded outsider Jaivir Balmiki. So, we have decided to support the JJP because Dushyant has given ticket to local leader Pawan Kharkhoda,” said Raj Kumar Dahiya, a resident of Sisana village of Sonepat.

Members of the Jat community also feel that violence during the Jat agitation in February 2016 has done big damage to the community politically as other castes are now wary of Jat leadership.

“In the villages, we don’t have any problems with people from other communities. People live together with harmony. But the February 2016 violence is a ploy of some political forces to divide the people for their own benefit,” said Hari Ram Fauji, another villager.

A section of the Jat community also holds Yashpal Malik, leader of the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti, responsible for the political damage to the Jat leadership. When contacted, Malik, however, refused to react to the allegations and said he would not make any comments during the ongoing Assembly poll.