Farmers in Haryana are angry with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power at the Center and the state for the past decade. It is clear that the farmers’ vote will play a role in the outcome of the Lok Sabha poll. Haryana will go to polls on May 25.
Farmers’ anger has been reflected in different ways. There have been some instances where farmer groups have directly opposed the BJP and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) candidates. At the same time, there is a measured approach of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) which has called for “punishing the BJP” with votes.
In this campaign, farmers are approaching voters and sharing their agenda, but they are also not stopping BJP and RJD candidates from campaigning. This is aimed at ensuring that the BJP is unable to give a choppy twist to the narrative and turn it into a “Jat versus others” issue.
There were reports of farmers protesting in Dabwali at the general meeting of BJP candidate Ashok Tanwar as they wanted to ask him some questions. Earlier, JJP chief Ajay Chautala was not allowed to hold a public meeting at Kungar village in Bhiwani. Former Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala was forced to walk to his meeting places in some villages in Hisar where his mother Neena Chautala is contesting. There were other instances too where farmers openly raised slogans against BJP candidates.
On Sunday, speakers at the SKM conference in Jind described Narendra Modi’s “communal government” as “the most anti-farmer and anti-people regime” since independence. They claimed that the government “is committing atrocities against farmers fighting for their demands, and has martyred 750 protesting farmers.”
“The BJP will be punished in the elections for the deception done to farmers by not respecting the assurances given at the time of suspension of the agitation on December 9, 2021 after rolling back three farm laws,” SKM spokesperson Sumit said.
“SKM has urged its followers to refrain from agitation and confrontation while opposing the BJP and RJD candidates and asking questions to them,” he added. The question remains whether farmers will vote to keep the interests of farmers above their individual party affiliations.
Haryana, said to be the wellspring of the ‘Aya Ram, Jaya Ram’ horse trade policy, is largely set to witness a tough fight between the Congress and the BJP. The Lok Sabha elections are all the more important here, as they are a precursor to the Assembly elections scheduled to be held a few months later.
Parties such as the Indian National Lok Dal and the Justice and Development Party, from which it emerged five years ago, are also vying to remain relevant in state politics. The RJD had shared power with the BJP in the state until March this year when the latter brought about a change of guard to check anti-incumbency.
The state has 10 Lok Sabha seats and the BJP won all of them in the 2019 elections. A repeat performance seems a remote possibility. The party was the first to announce all its candidates and seek votes in the name of development.
She fielded former Congress president Manohar Lal Khattar from his home in Karnal, while also giving a ticket to former state Congress president Ashok Tanwar who was fielded from Sirsa. Other prominent candidates fielded by the saffron party include industrialist Naveen Jindal from Kurukshetra and Rao Inderjit Singh from Gurugram. The latter jumped from Congress in 2014.
After a rally by BJP leader Vijay Sankalp organized at Kairu in Tosham area of Bhiwani Mahendragarh constituency on Tuesday, Khattar said: “The popular policies of the BJP government have made everyone’s life easier. The last 10 years have proven to be a boon for good governance.” This confidence in everyone’s hearts is the achievement of the BJP.
A confident Congress announced its nine candidates, leaving the Kurukshetra seat to Sushil Gupta of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) under an arrangement under the Inclusive Indian National Development Alliance (INDIA). The Congress list bears the stamp of former Prime Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s camp. Within the party where party leaders Randeep Surjewala, Kiran Chaudhary and Kumari Silja have been rivals for a long time. While Selja, the former Union minister, was ousted from the Sirsa seat, there were some surprising omissions.
This includes former Hisar MP who left the BJP to join the Congress last month, and Kiran Chaudhary’s daughter, Shruti Chaudhary. Shruti had lost from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh seat last time.
There is another surprising omission of Karan Dalal in Faridabad seat where the party fielded Mahendra Pratap. Both of them were close to Hooda. The party has nominated Hooda’s son, Deepender Hooda, from the Rohtak seat.
As of now, Hooda remains the only party leader with comprehensive coverage in Haryana. Congress has been aggressive on issues, especially agricultural issues along with employment.
“Anger against the BJP is finding expression in the state. The country has the highest unemployment rates. There is a lot of anger in the villages over the Agnifer scheme as the defense forces are seen as the only major means of employment. Farmer leader Inderjit Singh explained that this anger includes all communities and castes.
With a strong Jat support base, the Congress party has been trying of late to bring Dalits back into its fold. Jats account for nearly a quarter of the vote share in the state.
Selja, who is contesting against BJP’s Tanwar for the reserved seat in Sirsa, played the rights granted by the Constitution in Ratiya on Tuesday.
The Constitution protects the rights of farmers, labourers, poor people, shopkeepers and employees whom the Modi government is conspiring to abolish, she told a public meeting. “Today democracy is in danger. Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar’s constitution gave rights to Dalits and backward classes but the BJP is trying to snatch them away,” Selja said.
The state witnessed Jat dominance in politics till the time when Congress and NLD remained the two powerful forces. The BJP’s rise in 2014 saw the party bring in Punjabi Manohar Lal Khattar to the top job, even as the Jats largely retained the Congress and NLD.
The caste equation was further disrupted after the Jat reservation stir in 2016 which led to an “engineered” isolation of the community with an emerging scenario where Jats were pitted against the other 35 communities in the 36 biradari (community) group.
In the last 10 years, the BJP has greatly benefited 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 attract votes from other large backward castes.
On the other hand, the INLD is waging a battle for its survival and revival. Party president Abhay Chautala is in conflict with Kurukshetra and general secretary Sunaina Chautala is contesting from Hisar. The party will be keen to regain the vote share that went with the Justice and Development Party when the latter separated from the parent organization 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 situation in India will be similar to the one in Russia today. He used to say: “This election is for the farmers and farmers who are fighting against the capitalists.”
Another issue raised by INLD is the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) channel issue. This is a long-standing dispute with the neighboring state of Punjab.
Meanwhile, there are different perceptions about the Justice and Development Party. There is anger among Jats in particular who accuse the party of seeking votes in 2019 in both the parliamentary and assembly elections against the BJP and then collaborating with the saffron party to form the state government.
The common understanding is that the BJP used Dushyant Chautala as the face of Jats till the time he was good and then dumped the BJP in March this year. Another perception is that the BJP was keen for the BJP to withdraw in the Lok Sabha polls as it would significantly cut off the Jat support base in the Congress and the NLD.
The party recently witnessed the departure of its state unit president Nishan Singh as well as general secretary Kamlesh Saini. Party leaders are also facing the wrath of farmers who accuse them of toeing the BJP line throughout the farmers’ movement against the three farm laws that were later repealed.
After announcing her candidates for various seats, Dushyant Chautala is also taking up the cause of the largely agricultural community. He said in a recent tweet: “It is with great regret that the crop purchase and prompt payment system which we have successfully administered for 4 years has been completely destroyed by the current government.
“Farmers are being deliberately harassed and disturbed. Today I took stock of crop procurement in Anaj Mandi Hisar. Talk to officials about mustard and wheat crops not being lifted yet and the government stopping procurement of the crop for three days a week. Not only do farmers have to wait for a long time to sell their crops; The amount entering their accounts is also delayed.
Among the main contenders, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, the former will do its best to capture the seats along the Grand Trunk Road which has been its main stronghold. On the other hand, the Congress will try to expand its base beyond the Jat belt, which has been the source of its strength. The Congress announced Raj Babbar as its candidate for Gurugram district in Haryana late on Tuesday evening.
Haryana’s story will not end with the Lok Sabha elections. The battle will intensify as the dynamics of state assembly elections change later in the year.