Newsmaker: Political symbolism around Subhash Barala

The most important thing was to break the back of INLD's Jat base in Haryana

When the party won the assembly elections, the chief minister was selected ignoring conventional parameters like caste and region. M L Khattar is a Punjabi, a community that is small in number, from a caste that is politically insignificant. What impressed the central leadership about Khattar were his ideas about administration and his capacity for mobilisation, something Narendra Modi had seen for himself in Gujarat when Khattar oversaw rehabilitation after the Bhuj earthquake.

However, there was a problem. Haryana has a powerful voice in the state’s Jats. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a Jat, had been CM for two terms. Abhimanyu, a Jat leader from the Bharatiya Janata Party, had been accommodated in the council of ministers despite only a small base in the community. O P Dhankhar’s claim – he was then chief of the Kisan Morcha – was ignored altogether. 

Then, the party thought of Subhash Barala. The most important thing was to break the back of the Jat base of the Indian National Lok Dal headed by O P Chautala, heir to Devi Lal. Chautala is now in prison for an extended period, on a corruption conviction. Unless the BJP acted soon, his base could return to the INLD.

Though Jats are everywhere in Haryana, it is in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Jind and Hisar that the INLD has its pockets of support. For instance, in the latest assembly election, INLD got all the five seats in Sirsa, two of three in Fatehabad, three of five in Jind and three of seven in Hisar. If Haryana was to be made ‘INLD-mukt’, you needed to appoint a Jat from this region as the party’s face.

Barala fit the bill more than adequately. When state BJP chief and veteran party leader Rambilas Sharma resigned to become a minister, it was Barala who replaced him, though there were other contenders, including women (Sudha Yadav and Latika Sharma).

In hindsight, maybe that would have been a better choice. But, Barala was the perfect choice from Khattar’s point of view as well – he did not want any other non-Jat leader to be created who could, going forward, become a parallel point of power.

Neither Dhankar nor Abhimanyu came to the celebration when Barala became chief. Since then, a lot has happened to the Jats of Haryana. They have been on a rampage,  burnt down half the state in a quest for reservation and are poised at a historical moment when they have to be managed tactfully and politically.

This is why the BJP cannot take precipitate action against Barala and family. Hence the delay in registering complaints against Subhash Barala’s son, and then the assertion that the father cannot be punished for the deeds of the son.

However, Jats in Haryana loyal to the INLD have already begun a campaign – that Barala and son are a disgrace to the community and should be punished. Subhash Barala’s effigy has already been burnt in a couple of places. The BJP has to do damage control. Its dilemma is whether to do Jat politics or ignore the non-Jats.