BJP’s hard battle ahead in Haryana assembly polls
Discontent within the party was visible when Karan Dev Kamboj, Haryana BJP's OBC Morcha president and a former minister, declined a handshake with CM Saini
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set for a tough fight in the upcoming state election in Haryana as it faces a strong two-term anti-incumbency factor and internal party rumblings, reflected in several resignations.
With chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, who hails from Other Backward Classes (OBC) that account for 34% of the population, at the helm of affairs for the last six months, the party is banking heavily on a bunch of populist decisions and caste consolidation after the Lok Sabha election, political watchers believe.
Since the change of guard from two-time chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and breaking away from their coalition partner Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) in March, the party is readying to take on the resurgent Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Saini, one-time MP as also a one-time MLA, reversed several policies of his predecessor Khattar to neutralise the anti-incumbency factor. In his 77 days of governance, with the party reduced to half of the seats from 10 in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Saini-led minority government has taken a slew of populist decisions targeting the youth, farmers, women, elderly and employees.
A BJP leader, who asked not to be named, said: “There is no doubt that since day one of change of guard, Saini tasked his whole cabinet and whole bureaucracy with damage control. From giving more powers to the Panchayati Raj, changes in family ID, increasing the OBC creamy layer ceiling, reservation for Agniveers, hiking the social security benefits and whatnot. Many decisions on which Khattar remained adamant for nine years were changed in one go.”
But will all this help the party sail through? Political analyst and senior journalist Suman Bhatnagar thinks otherwise.
"I don't see any visible impact of these newly introduced schemes. Voters must have understood that these are among just other freebies offered just ahead of polls and won't benefit them largely," he said.
On Wednesday, the party released its first list of candidates for 67 of the 90 seats by banking on 21 sitting legislators, introducing 20 new faces, dropping at least eight sitting MLAs with the CM shifting base to Ladwa, just three months after winning from Karnal in a by-poll. But what followed was not anticipated:
A series of resignations, which left at least one leader in tears and many furious workers, dented the BJP's image with many blaming the party for compromising “its ideology and giving tickets to turncoats”. After being denied ticket, at least 12 senior BJP leaders, including a cabinet minister, one MLA, and six ex-MLAs, resigned from the party within 24 hours.
Discontent within the party was visible when Karan Dev Kamboj, Haryana BJP's OBC Morcha president and a former minister, was seen declining a handshake with Saini who visited his home to pacify him.
Speaking to the media earlier, Kamboj, who was seeking a party ticket from either of the two seats in Yamunanagar or Karnal, had even vowed to ensure that the BJP candidates on the seats lose while lashing out at the party for fielding "traitors" and calling Saini "a rubber stamp CM".
In another part of the state, Ranjit Singh, state minister for power, jails and new and renewable energy, resigned from the cabinet and announced that he would contest as an independent from Rania seat of Sirsa.
Similarly, Savitri Jindal, India's richest woman and mother of BJP's Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal, also declared that she would contest as an independent candidate from Hisar against health minister Kamal Gupta.
Author and political commentator Satish Tyagi believes that all this shows that the party, at least internally is aware, that the electoral path ahead is not easy.
"Similarly, giving tickets to turncoats and family dynasts sends a wrong message to ideologically committed cadre. In the case of Kamboj, an OBC leader from which community the CM himself comes, the party's dependence and poll plank on the community may weaken. Kamboj not shaking hands with Saini was a daring move, which the whole state saw. How Kavita Jain cried and his workers blamed Khattar is another example of the infighting, what the BJP itself accused of Congress in the state," he added.
"The scenario has also shattered BJP's image of a "party with a difference" and given Congress more time to check on their candidates. Moreover, the voters seem to be confused that if Khattar was strong enough, why was he then removed as it is visible how he was given a free hand in giving tickets," Tyagi said.
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