BJP-HJC combine eye non-Jat voters

Amitabh Shukla / Chandigarh

None of the “Lals” may be in power in Haryana but they still call the shots in the state so much so that the national party BJP now has to bank on the scion of one of these Lals to make a footmark in the state politics.

While the scions of Bansi Lal are firmly with the Congress with a Lok Sabha MP (Shruti Chaudhary) and an MLA and Minister (Kiran Chaudhary), BJP had to go for the scions of the other two “Lals” - Om Prakash Chautala (Son of Devi Lal) and Kuldeep Bishnoi (Son of Bhajan Lal) who are either politically dominant or aspiring for the dominant position.

After having rejected the olive branch extended by Indian National Lok Dal’s Om Prakash Chautala, the son of Chaudhari Devi Lal, BJP has gone for the son of Bhajan Lal, Kuldeep Bishnoi, for a long term tie-up in the state where the party has not been able to make a significant mark despite its influence in all the neighbouring states – Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and even Punjab. The BJP has ruled all these states and still is in power in Himachal and shares power with the Akali Dal in Punjab but has never been able to call the shots in Haryana.

Billed as the Third Front, the new formation is looking at the formidable non-Jat voters who have been voting either for the Congress or the INLD due to lack of viable political options in the state. Bhajan Lal still remains the only non Jat leader who was at the helm of affairs in Haryana for over a decade despite his community (Bishnoi) being a miniscule minority in the caste conscious state.

The political magic of Bhajan Lal is still not lost as his Haryana Janhit Congress bagged six seats in the 2009 Assembly polls. It is different matter that five of them moved for greener pastures and joined the Congress to give it the numbers to form the government after a resurgent INLD virtually knocked at the gates of Haryana Assembly with an impressive performance.

Taking a hint from the way Bhajan Lal ruled the state before being outsmarted by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, BJP thought that perhaps it was better to align with the legacy which he has left. Also, the only other option for the party was an alliance with INLD which the party refused to have any tuck in the last Assembly polls. In fact has the BJP gone into an alliance with the INLD in the last Assembly polls, it could well have been Chautala in power rather than Hooda.

But given the fact that Chautala is facing corruption charges and it was on this very issue that two of its Chief Ministers – B S Yeddyurappa in Karnataka and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in Uttarakhand – had to leave their posts, HJC was the only plausible option.

BJP leaders here say that non Jat communities like the Brahmins, Vaish, Gujjars, Ahirs (Yadavs), Bishnois, Dalits and even non-Jat Sikhs could form the backbone of the new alliance and has the potential to change the dynamics of Jat dominated politics. “Both Congress and INLD are Jat dominated. This could be a fresh beginning as the non-Jat communities clearly are in a majority in the state,” a BJP leader said.

The Hisar Lok Sabha bye-election could be the harbinger of the new change in state politics. If the HJC-BJP candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi defeats Ajay Singh Chautala of the INLD and the yet to be declared Congress candidate, the alliance would be cemented firmly for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and the subsequent Assembly polls.

Bipolar politics has been the order of the day in the state for quite a while now ever since Haryana Vikas Party lost its sheen and merged with the Congress seven years ago in 2004. But there could well be a third pole in 2011 and beyond if the “Lal” scion, chosen by the BJP, romps home and goes to the Lok Sabha. This is what the BJP would be earnestly hoping for given its marginalization in the state so far and also to increase its seat tally in a bid to challenge the UPA in 2014 general elections.

http://dailypioneer.com/nation/6250-bjp-hjc-combine-eye-non-jat-voters.html