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The farmers in Haryana are angry with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has been in power in the Centre and the state for the past decade. It is clear that the farmers vote will have a role to play in the Lok Sabha poll outcome. Haryana goes to the polls on May 25.
The farmers’ anger has been reflected in various ways. There have been some instances of farmers’ groups directly opposing the BJP and the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) candidates. At the same time there is a calculated approach of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) that has given a call to “punish the BJP” with votes.
In this campaign the farmers are approaching the voters and sharing their agenda, but are also not stopping the BJP and JJP candidates from campaigning. This is to ensure that the BJP is not able to give a volatile twist to the narrative and turn it into a ‘Jat versus the others’ affair.
There have been reports of farmers protesting at Dabwali at BJP candidate Ashok Tanwar’s public meeting where they wanted to ask him some questions. Earlier JJP supremo Ajay Chautala was not allowed to hold a public meeting in Kungar village of Bhiwani. Former Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala was forced to walk to the venues of his meetings at some villages in Hisar from where his mother Naina Chautala is contesting. There have been other instances as well of the farmers openly raising slogans against the BJP candidates.
On Sunday, the speakers at the SKM convention in Jind described the “corporate communal Narendra Modi government” as the most “anti farmer and anti people regime” since Independence. They alleged that the government has been “perpetuating brutalities on farmers' fighting for their demands, and martyred 750 protesting farmers”.
“The BJP will be punished in the elections for the deception done to farmers by not honouring the assurances given at the time of suspension of agitation on December 9, 2021 after the rolling back three farm laws,” SKM spokesperson Sumit said.
“The SKM has exhorted its followers to refrain from incitement and confrontation while opposing and asking questions from BJP-JJP candidates,” he added. The question remains whether the farmers will vote keeping the interests of the peasantry above their individual party affiliations.
Haryana is said to be the fountainhead of ‘Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram’ politics of horse trading, and is all set to largely witness a high pitched fight between the Congress and the BJP. The Lok Sabha elections are all the more important here, as these are a prelude to the Assembly polls scheduled to be held a few months down the line.
Parties like the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the JJP, that had emerged out of it five years ago, are also in the fray for remaining relevant in the state politics. The JJP had shared power with the BJP in the state till March this year when the latter brought about a change in guard to check the anti-incumbency.
The state has 10 Lok Sabha seats and the BJP had won all of them in the 2019 elections. A repeat performance appears to be a remote possibility. The party has been the first to announce all its candidates and is seeking votes in the name of development.
It has fielded former CM Manohar Lal Khattar from his home turf of Karnal, while also giving a ticket to the former state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar who has been fielded from Sirsa. The other prominent candidates fielded by the saffron party include industrialist Naveen Jindal from Kurukshetra, and heavyweight Rao Inderjit Singh from Gurugram. The latter had jumped ship from the Congress in 2014.
After a BJP Vijay Sankalp rally organised at Kairu in Tosham area of Bhiwani Mahendragarh constituency on Tuesday, Khattar said, “The popular policies of the BJP government have made the life of every person easier. The last 10 years have proved to be a boon for good governance. This trust residing in everyone's heart is the achievement of the BJP.”
A confident Congress has announced its nine candidates, and left the Kurukshetra seat for Sushil Gupta of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) under an arrangement under Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A).The Congress list has the stamp of former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda camp within the party where party leaders Randeep Surjewala, Kiran Chaudhary and Kumari Selja have for long been rivals. While Selja, a former Union minister, has been fielded from the Sirsa seat, there have been some surprise omissions.
This includes former Hisar MP who had quit the BJP to join the Congress last month and Shruti Chaudhary who is Kiran Chaudhary’s daughter. Shruti had lost from the Bhiwani-Mahendergarh seat last time.
Another surprising omission has been of Karan Dalal on Faridabad seat from where the party has fielded Mahendra Pratap. Both have been close to Hooda. The party has fielded Hooda’s son Deepender Hooda on the Rohtak seat.
As of now Hooda remains the only leader in the party with a pan Haryana reach. The Congress has been aggressive on issues, particularly the agrarian ones along with employment.
“The anger against the BJP is finding expression in the state. The state tops in unemployment. There is a lot of anger in the villages over the Agniveer scheme as the defence forces are seen as the single major employment avenue. This anger cuts across all the communities and castes,” farmers’ leader Inderjit Singh explained.
With a strong Jat support base, the Congress party has of late been trying to bring back the Dalits to its fold. Jats account approximately one fourth of the vote share in the state.
Selja who is contesting against BJP’s Tanwar on Sirsa reserved seat played up the rights given by the Constitution at Ratia on Tuesday.
In a public meeting she said that the Constitution protects the rights of farmers, labourers, poor, shopkeepers, employees which the Modi government is conspiring to abolish. “Today democracy is in danger. Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar's Constitution has given rights to Dalits and backward classes but BJP is trying to snatch them away,” Selja said.
The state had seen Jat dominance in politics till the time the Congress and the INLD remained the two powerhouses. The ascent of the BJP in 2014 saw the party bringing in a Punjabi Manohar Lal Khattar to the top post even as the Jats largely kept to the Congress and the INLD.
The caste equation got further disrupted after the Jat reservation stir of 2016 that resulted in an ‘engineered’ isolation of the community with an emerging scenario where the Jats were pitted against the other 35 communities in the 36 Biradari (community) social set up.
In the last 10 years the BJP has largely gained from communities other than the Jats. Even the recent change of guard in the state when Nayab Singh Saini replaced Khattar is seen as an attempt to rope in the large other backward castes votes.
On the other hand the INLD is fighting a battle for its survival and revival. Party president Abhay Chautala is in the fray from Kurukshetra and general secretary Sunaina Chautala is contesting from Hisar. The party will be keen to get back the vote share that had gone with the JJP when the latter split from the parent organisation five years ago.
Abhay Chautala has been attacking both the BJP and the Congress. He recently said that if the BJP wins again in the Lok Sabha no opposition politician will be able to oppose it and the condition in India will be similar to that in Russia today. He has been saying, “This election is of the farmers and farmers fighting against the capitalists.”
Among other issues being raised by the INLD is that of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. This is a long standing dispute with neighbouring Punjab.
Meanwhile, there are various perceptions about the JJP that are doing the rounds. There is anger among the Jats in particular who accuse the party of having sought votes in 2019 in both the parliamentary and assembly elections against the BJP and then joining hands with the saffron party to form the state government.
The common understanding is that the BJP used Dushyant Chautala as its Jat face till the time he had utility and then dumped the JJP in March this year. Yet another perception is that the BJP has been keen on the JJP going alo0ne in the Lok Sabha polls as it will largely cut into the Jat support base of the Congress and the INLD.
The party recently saw the departure of its state unit chief Nishan Singh as well as general secretary Kamlesh Saini. The party leaders are also facing the ire of the farmers who accuse them of toeing the BJP line all through the farmers’ movement against the three farm laws that were subsequently repealed.
Having announced candidates on various seats, Dushyant Chautala too is largely espousing the cause of the farming community. In a recent tweet he said, “It is a matter of great regret that the system of crop procurement and immediate payment which we ran successfully for 4 years is being completely ruined by the present government.
“Farmers are being harassed and troubled deliberately. Today, I took stock of crop procurement in Hisar Anaaj Mandi. Spoke to the officials regarding the mustard and wheat crops not being lifted yet and the government stopping the purchase of crops for three days a week. Farmers are not only having to wait for a long time to sell their crops, but the amount coming into their accounts is also getting delayed.”
Of the two main contenders the BJP and the Congress, the former will try its best to capture the seats along the Grand Trunk road that have been its main stronghold. The Congress on the other hand will try to expand its base beyond the Jat belt that has been its own strength. The Congress announced Raj Babbar as its candidate from Gurugram, Haryana late on Tuesday evening.
The Haryana story will not end with the Lok Sabha polls. The fight will get more intense with changed dynamics for the state assembly polls later in the year.
