Gotra Pals to decide fate of candidates in Hathin Assembly segment of Palwal district

Tribune News Service

Palwal, August 25

The Hathin Assembly segment of Palwal district is perhaps the only segment in the region (Faridabad and Palwal districts) where the role of ‘gotra pals’ (khaps) in deciding the winners or losers cannot be ruled out.

Reaching out

As Pals mostly incline towards a candidate rather than the party, the candidates try to get the support of all the main Pals as these have around 40 per cent of the share of the total vote bank. — Political Analyst

As the process of selection of candidates begins, both the aspirants and the political parties have started looking towards ‘gotra pals’ as the support or opposition by these bodies may decide the fate of the candidates, claim sources in political and social circles in the district. “While the Dagar Pal is the leading panchayat or association having its presence in as many as 22 villages , other Pals like Rawat, Sehrawat and Tewatia also become active in matters of selection and support for a particular candidate of any party from this seat,’’ says Gaurav Tewatia, a political analyst. If the Pals support a candidate, then the chances of that candidate winning increase significantly, he says, adding that Pals’ unhappiness has devoid many stalwarts of a win. The victory of Independent candidates in Hathin four times out of the total 13 elections held so far is a pointer to this fact, it is claimed.

“The three main Pals of Dagar, Rawat and Sehrawat have played a vital role in the victory of many candidates who have won from here,” said Mahender Singh, a local resident. Explaining further, he said while Ramjilal Dagar and Praveen Dagar have been MLAs from Dagar Pal, Hemraj Sehrawat has been an MLA from Sehrawat Pal. Besides these, Bhagwan Sahay Rawat and Kehar Singh Rawat from Rawat Pal have also been the MLAs from Hathin Assembly constituency. Harsh Kumar got elected as an Independent MLA in 2005 due to support of the Pals, lost the next election after being fielded as Congress candidate, sources claim.

‘As Pals mostly incline towards a candidate rather than the party, the candidates try to get the support of all the main Pals as these have around 40 percent of the share of the total vote bank,’’ says an analyst. The victory of the BJP’s Praveen Dagar in 2019 had been mainly due to the support of the Pals as he had been the first right-wing candidate who had won despite his constituency being dominated by non-Hindu electorate.

The Pals are again in the picture as the parties have turned to them for their support for their candidates, though no announcement has been made so far. Both the BJP and Congress are likely to field candidates from the Dagar gotra this time, it is reported.