As the countdown to the Lok Sabha Elections has begun, political parties in Haryana are trying to cash in on caste-based votes. Opposition parties are riding the wave of strong anti-incumbancy against the Congress.
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is in the eye of the storm due to alleged land scams and acquisitions in the state to favour corporates and Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
The Congress is in a tight spot as senior leaders like Union Minister Kumari Selja, Rajya Sabha MP Birender Singh and Rao Inderjit Singh (Lok Sabha MP, who has joined BJP) have been candidly speaking about misgovernance by Hooda and lack of holistic development in the state.
Some Congress stalwarts who crossed over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recent past include the Member of Parliament, Rao Inderjit Singh, Dharambir Singh (former MLA from Sohna) and Ramesh Kaushik (Congress leader). All three have been given a ticket from the BJP. Rao Inderjit Singh will contest from Gurgaon against Aam Aadmi Party leader Yoginder Yadav. Dharambir Singh would fight against Shruti Chaudhary (Haryana Excise and Taxation Minister Kiran Chaudhary's daughter) from Mahendergarh constituency. Ramesh Kaushik would contest from Sonepat.
While the BJP has an alliance with Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC, floated by former chief minister Bhajan Lal), the BJP will contest eight seats, leaving two (Sirsa and Hisar) for HJC.
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), one of the strongest opposition parties of Haryana in the previous elections is contesting all 10 seats on its own. After the conviction of party leaders Om Prakash Chautala and son Ajay Chautala in a teachers' recruitment scam, the party has been marginalised.
Something that can skew the outcome in Haryana is the new entrant, the Aam Aadmi Party whose leaders such as Yoginder Yadav, Navin Jaihind and Arvind Kejriwal hail from Haryana.
The political observers in the state do not perceive the AAP as a strong players but agree that it might eat into the votes of the Congress and BJP.
Caste plays a crucial role on the political landscape of Haryana and both old and new outfits are trying to play the same card.
Khap panchayats, inter-caste marriages, jaat-dalit-non-dalit and many other parochial issues remain at the centrestage.
Development in the hinterland despite its proximity to New Delhi and 13 districts of the state included in National Capital Region are nowhere a part of rhetorics.
Congress managed to win nine of 10 Lok Sabha seats during last elections. The state goes for polls on 10 April. The outcome is likely to be different this time with new alliances, new political outfits and exit of an important Jat leader Om Prakash Chautala of INLD.
