Ahirs prove to be BJP saviour, Dalit vote swung it for Congress

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates dominated in 10 out of the 11 assembly segments of the Ahirwal belt spread over three parliamentary seats, Gurgaon, Rohtak and Bhiwani-Mahendergarh, and the main opposition Congress took lead in 11 out of 17 reserved assembly segments in the state in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates dominated in 10 out of the 11 assembly segments of the Ahirwal belt spread over three parliamentary seats, Gurgaon, Rohtak and Bhiwani-Mahendergarh, and the main opposition Congress took lead in 11 out of 17 reserved assembly segments in the state in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress party has won both reserved parliamentary seats of Sirsa and Ambala from where Kumari Selja and Varun Chaudhary defeated the BJP candidates in Lok Sabha polls. (HT File)

The Yadav-dominated Ahirwal belt comprises 11 assembly seats, Gurugram, Badshahpur, Sohna, Bawal, Rewari, Pataudi, these assembly segments are part of Gurgaon parliamentary seat; Narnaul, Nangal Chaudhary, Mahendergarh and Ateli under the Bhiwani-Mahendergarh parliamentary seat and Kosli under the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat.

Except Kosli assembly segment, the BJP candidates took lead in 10 Ahir-dominated assembly areas that fall under the Gurgaon and Bhiwani-Mahendergarh parliamentary constituencies. In Kosli, Congress candidate from Rohtak Deepender Hooda took the lead by just two votes from his opponent Arvind Sharma of the BJP. In the 2019 parliamentary polls, Deepender trailed from Kosli by over 75,000 votes and he lost the Rohtak parliamentary seat from Arvind Sharma of the BJP by 7,503 votes. This time Deepender took lead of two votes from Kosli assembly segment, and he wrested the Rohtak seat from Arvind by defeating him with a margin of 3.45 lakh votes.

Six Ahir-dominated assembly segments, Gurugram, Badshahpur, Sohna, Bawal, Rewari and Pataudi came as a saviour for veteran Ahir leader Rao Inderjit Singh, who defeated his opponent Raj Babbar of the Congress by a margin of 75,079 votes. Despite trailing by 2.58 lakh votes from three minority-dominated assembly seats of Nuh, Punhana and Firozpur Jhirka, the BJP candidate and Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh ensured a strong counter from remaining six Ahir-dominated areas and defeated his rival in a close contest. With this, Rao Inderjit Singh won his sixth Lok Sabha election and fourth from the Gurgaon seat.

Even on the Bhiwani-Mahendergarh seat, BJP candidate Dharambir Singh trailed in the Jat-dominated five assembly segments of Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri districts by 3,788 votes from his opponent Rao Dan Singh of the Congress, but he took lead of 45,298 votes from four Ahir- dominated assembly segments- Narnaul, Nangal Chaudhary, Mahendergarh and Ateli. With this, he wrested the seat for the third consecutive term.

Two days ago, BJP leader Rao Inderjit Singh said that his people (referring to the Ahir community) had ensured his and Dharambir’s victory.

“This time, BJP workers were active in cities and my own workers took charge in rural belts. If my own workers had not taken the charge, I would have lost the election. On the Bhiwani-Mahendergarh seat, after my campaigning Dharambir Singh won the election. The BJP won 10 out of the 11 Ahir assembly segments,” he added.

Bhiwani-Mahendergarh MP Dharambir Singh said that four Ahir-dominated segments proved to be his saviour this time when the wind was blowing against the party.

“The BJP has lost the adjoining parliamentary seats- Hisar and Rohtak in Haryana, Sikar, Churu and Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan but I think I was lucky that the voters had saved this seat,” he added.

The Congress party has won both reserved parliamentary seats of Sirsa and Ambala from where Kumari Selja and Varun Chaudhary defeated the BJP candidates in Lok Sabha polls. Out of 17 reserved assembly segments in Haryana, Congress candidates took lead on 11 seats, Aam Aadmi Party candidate Sushil Gupta in Shahbad and Guhla assembly seats and BJP on four seats. BJP candidate from Karnal, former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar took lead in two reserved assembly segments- Nilokheri and Israna, and Gurgaon nominee Rao Inderjit Singh in Bawal and Pataudi.

Commenting on BJP’s dominance in Ahir belt and Congress’s powerful performance in reserved assembly segments, political experts pointed out that Dalit voters are traditionally with the Congress and majority of them supported the grand-old party candidates in the polls as they focused their campaign that the BJP can scrap their reservation after coming to power for the third time, besides claiming that there is threat to the Constitution.

“The Ahir voters are still with the BJP because of Rao Inderjit Singh, who has more influence on the majority of 11 Ahir seats. The Ahir community is still hoping that Rao will be elevated as Haryana chief minister and there is no leader of his stature in other parties,” said Rohtak-based political expert Satish Tyagi.