Sunday special: How regional identity shapes Haryana politics
With Haryana set to go to polls to elect a new 90-member Assembly on October 1, the political clout of the state’s regional belts — illake ki chaudhar — is back in focus. These geo-cultural identities have historically resulted in regional rivalries. The fault lines cave in when there is a strong wave during elections for and against an incumbent regime. The voting patterns of these regional belts — Deswali, Bagri (Bagar), Bangar, Ahirwal, Meo and Nardak, besides a small pocket of Braj — indicate political aspirations and assertiveness.
Deswali is spread across Rohtak, Sonepat and Jhajjar districts, as well as major parts of Panipat and Hisar. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is the tallest leader of the Congress in the Deswali belt. The BJP has tried to project former ministers Om Prakash Dhankar and Capt Abhimanyu as its prominent faces in this region.
The Deswali belt accounts for 23 Assembly seats in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat and Panipat districts, including five seats in Hisar district.
The Bagri belt covers Sirsa, Bhiwani and Fatehabad districts, and parts of Hisar adjoining the Rajasthan border. It has been politically influential for a long time as several leaders from this region, including Bhajan Lal, Bansi Lal, Devi Lal, Om Prakash Chautala, Banarsi Das Gupta and Hukam Singh, remained Chief Ministers.
The Bagri belt has 14 seats in Sirsa, Bhiwani and Fatehabad; and two Assembly segments (Nalwa and Adampur) of Hisar district.
The Nardak belt — Ambala, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Panchkula districts — accounts for 19 seats.
The Bangar belt has its centre in Narwana subdivision of Jind district and is loosely spread across Jind and Kaithal districts. It comprises nine seats.
Meo is a Muslim-dominated region comprising Nuh district and also has a significant presence of Mewati culture in Sohna Assembly segment of Gurugram district and Hathin segment of Palwal district.
Master Hari Singh, a political activist who was associated with Devi Lal, Bansi Lal and Bhajan Lal, says the root of the regional aspirations to become the power centre stems from the historical background of Rohtak and Hisar regions. “These two belts were governed directly by the British and had never been under the rule of riyasats. Most areas of the Nardak and Bangar belts were governed by riyasats. So, people in Hisar and Rohtak regions have traditionally been politically assertive,” he reasons.
According to Hari Singh, the Ahirwals remain loyal to the family of Rao Tula Ram, a freedom fighter. Rao Birender Singh became Chief Minister for a brief period in 1967. Ever since, the region has largely remained politically loyal to Rampura House — the home of Rao Birender Singh’s family. His son, Rao Inderjit Singh, is a six-time MP (three times each from the Congress and the BJP).
The Ahirwal belt accounts for 10 seats in Mahendragarh, Rewari and Gurugram (except Sohna).
Political scientist Prof Kushal Pal maintains that the regional identities have strengthened over the years, with a few exceptions. “Political leaders nurture and strengthen their own base. The CM’s home segment always emerges as the power centre. In Haryana, the CMs have been mostly from Hisar and Rohtak. So, the intensity of political assertion here is more,” he says.
Dr Vijay Chauhan, Assistant Professor at MPN College, Mullana in Ambala district, says that regional identities got strengthened with the emergence of the three Lals. “Bhajan Lal nurtured Adampur, while Bansi Lal was identified with Bhiwani district. The family of Devi Lal continues to hold sway in Sirsa district. Hooda is the undisputed leader in the old Rohtak region, known as the Deswali belt. They were able to connect with a large section of people in their segments as development funds and jobs went where the power centre was. Hooda faced allegations of regional bias when the Congress lost the polls in 2014,” he points out.
Som Nath, a former sarpanch of Ambli village in Naraingarh Assembly segment in Ambala district, says the elevation of local leader Nayab Singh Saini as the Chief Minister in March this year raised hopes of development and uplift in the region. On why the BJP candidate lost from the Ambala Lok Sabha seat recently and even trailed from the CM’s home segment of Naraingarh, Nath says the people were opposed to the candidate. “Saini has urged people not to repeat the mistake in the Assembly polls,” he adds.
Dr SS Chahar, former head of the Centre for Haryana Studies at Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak, says that Rohtak district, which is the centre of the Deswali belt, is touted as the political capital of Haryana due to its political assertiveness.
The Meham Assembly constituency in Rohtak is credited with the resurrection of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, who belongs to the Bagri belt in Sirsa district, not only in Haryana politics but also at the national level. Devi Lal won the Meham seat in 1982, 1985 (byelection) and 1987. He went on to become the Deputy PM in 1989. During the 1989 general elections, he contested from the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat and Sikar in Rajasthan. After winning both, he gave up the Rohtak seat, which irked the electorate.
Dr Chahar says it was the adamant attitude of Devi Lal’s son — the then CM Om Prakash Chautala — which led to his confrontation with the Meham Chaubisi khap over the choice of the Lok Dal candidate in the Meham byelection, after Devi Lal vacated this seat to become the Deputy PM. The khap wanted Anand Singh Dangi as the candidate, but Chautala insisted on contesting himself. Subsequent developments resulted in violence, leading to the death of Independent candidate Amir Singh. The bypoll was countermanded by the Election Commission.
The Bagri belt is at present dominated by the Chautalas mostly in Sirsa district, Kuldeep Bishnoi in Adampur (Hisar), and Kiran Choudhry, daughter-in-law of former CM Bansi Lal, in Tosham segment.
Historically, there has been the political dominance of Hisar and Rohtak regions since Haryana came into being in 1966. The old Hisar district, comprising Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad and Bhiwani districts, was the centre of power for almost 37 years. Rohtak was the power centre for 10 years (during Hooda’s tenure as CM and four months of the first CM, Pt Bhagwat Dayal Sharma, who was the MLA from Jhajjar).
With the BJP coming to power in 2014, the party tried to break this pattern as it installed Manohar Lal Khattar as Chief Minister. Though Khattar belongs to Rohtak district (native of Nindana village), he shifted his political base to the Karnal Assembly segment. The BJP’s ploy proved beneficial as the party managed to win maximum seats in the districts along the GT Road. Now, the BJP has sought to relocate the power centre to Ambala district by installing Nayab Singh Saini as the Chief Minister.
In the Nardak region, political leaders from outside have been successful in the Lok Sabha elections from Ambala, Kurukshetra and Karnal. Kumari Selja remained MP from Ambala twice. The Kurukshetra seat has been won by the likes of Manohar Lal Saini, Harpal Singh, Naveen Jindal and Abhay Chautala. From Karnal, former CM Bhajan Lal, Ashwani Chopra and Manohar Lal Khattar have been successful.
Devender Surjewala, a retired Joint Director in the Development Department, says that Bagri and Deswali regions “had leaders like Chhotu Ram (pre-Independence era), Devi Lal and Ranbir Singh (father of Bhupinder Singh Hooda). They strengthened the aspirations of people and subsequently, the dynasties of the three Lals and the Hoodas took root. Bangar and Ahirwal regions too have nurtured aspirations to become power centres, with leaders like Rao Inderjit Singh in Ahirwal and Birender Singh/Randeep Singh Surjewala in Bangar as potential CMs”. Shifting the power centre to the Nardak belt was a political strategy of the BJP which proved to be successful, he adds.
Dr Rajender Sharma, professor of political science at MDU, notes that more than regional differentiation, “there has been a struggle for the chaudhar of regional satraps, which also reflects among the common masses during the election times”.
