Hooda falters even in Jat bastions
Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda often remarked in his media interviews that “neither was he tired, nor retired” whenever asked whether the Assembly poll would be his last.
Having served two terms as the CM and four times as a Lok Sabha MP, the five-time MLA Hooda, now 77, was waiting in the wings to reclaim the top position in the state. His recurring claim during rallies was, “Congress aa rahi hai, BJP ja rahi hai (the Congress is winning and the BJPis losing).” However, the BJP had a better strategy.
Hooda believed that a decade of anti-incumbency against the BJP would be sufficient as he called upon the “Chattis Biradari” (all communities) to help overthrow the Khattar-Saini regime. Yet, it appears he was overconfident.
Throughout the campaign, BJP leaders, from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Home Minister Amit Shah, targeted him, emphasising alleged corruption during his tenure. They countered the anti-incumbency narrative by replacing Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini, a leader from the Backward Class, as the CM.
Revisiting the Jat vs non-Jat narrative, as they did in 2019, the BJP reframed the election through a caste lens, attacking Hooda and informing the electorate that “Dalits had suffered under his rule while he mistreated Selja”.
By framing it as a Hooda vs BJP battle, the saffron party found it easier to consolidate non-Jat votes. On the other hand, Hooda aimed for Jat-Dalit consolidation, similar to what occurred during the recent Lok Sabha elections, alongside support from the Sikhs and Muslims. He likely underestimated the division of Jat votes and the consolidation of non-Jats.
Of the 35 seats in Haryana with more than 50,000 Jat votes, the Congress lost 18. In Hooda’s strongholds of Rohtak, Sonepat and Jhajjar, the party managed victory in only eight of the 14 segments.
Expressing surprise at the results, Hooda stated, “Achambhit hain (it’s surprising). Lok ki haar hai, tantra ki jeet hai (it’s defeat of the people, but a victory for the system).” He recalled what caretaker CM Nayab Singh Saini had said during a press conference on October 6: “He (Nayab) claimed the BJP would form the government alone, and that the party had made ‘all arrangements.’ He even suggested that after the results, the opposition would blame the EVMs.”
After facing a setback in the 2019 Assembly elections, Hooda began preparing for a long haul. He took on the role of the Leader of the Opposition, sent his son Deepender to the Rajya Sabha in 2020, got replaced Selja with his confidant Udai Bhan, a Dalit, as the state president in 2022 and finally secured a favourable state in-charge, Deepak Babaria, in 2023. He ran the show independently, making the Haryana Congress synonymous with himself.
In the second act, he transformed the party into an aggressive opposition, both inside and outside the Assembly. He seized every opportunity to attack the BJP, enhancing the party’s profile. The high command credited him with winning five of the 10 Lok Sabha seats and placed all their bets on him for the Assembly elections.
However, his rivals within the party, who were part of the second rung of leadership, felt increasingly sidelined.
Kuldeep Bishnoi quit the party to join the BJP in 2022. Kiran Choudhry’s daughter Shruti was denied the ticket for the Lok Sabha elections, prompting her shift to the BJP. Not only did she secure the Rajya Sabha seat, but Shruti also won from Tosham on the BJP ticket today.
