Jats are counted as the most dominant vote bank in Haryana, traditionally voting for Congress and local rival INLD
The Hindi-speaking state of Haryana is looking at an interesting fight this time as it casts ballot next month. Set to elect its Assembly too later this year, a lot is riding on the Lok Sabha polls for parties trying to work the mind-boggling caste arithmetic even while factoring in new clauses that have been thrown in. While all the prime players -- BJP, Congress, INLD and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) – are hoping for a clean sweep, it seems it is advantage BJP despite a five-year rule riddled with poor law and order on various occasions.
Jats are counted as the most dominant vote bank in Haryana, traditionally voting for Congress and local rival INLD. Despite being 27% in number, this community being vocal has the knack to influence voters of other communities.
This year, however, the Jat votes will be triumvirate, given Dushyant Chautala, grandson of INLD patriarch Om Prakash Chautala breaking away and floating JJP. The body blow that INLD suffered due to a bitter family feud will dent its vote count with many Jats deserting it and going the JJP way. This division turned out to be advantageous for the BJP in Jind bypolls, where it yielded success by bringing a non-Jat in fray.
BJP, which lost Jat support in the aftermath of 2016 quota stir, is busy consolidating non-Jat votes. It has fielded a mix of Brahmin, Punjabi and OBCs including Rao Inderjit Singh – a towering name in Yadav community. "Congress and INLD infamously ignored non-Jats. 2014 polls -- where 47% Brahmins, 55% other upper castes, 40% non-Jat OBCs and 20% Dalits voted for BJP -- forebode these people are ones who hold the key to win this year too," says Dr Krishna Gautam, former professor of political science, Kurukshetra University.
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