Page 34 - 15MAY2019E

Old rivals, new parties fight

intense battle in Haryana

n the land of Mahabharata an in- The entry of three new parties — AAP, Jannanayak Janata Party of
tense political battle is being fought Dushyant Chautala and Loktantra Suraksha Party of former BJP
in Haryana. The entry of three new
parties-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raj Kumar Saini — has made the power struggle more fierce
I Jannanayak Janata Party (JJP) of and interesting, writes rajendra rhatry
Dushyant Chautala and Loktantra Surak-
sha Party (LSP) of the former BJP MP Raj equation, caste combination, caste con- Caste communities.
Kumar Saini has made the power strug- sideration and caste politics play an im- Two of the 10 seats in Haryana-that
gle more fierce and interesting. portant role in choosing the respective of Ambala and Sirsa are reserved for the
For the first time the father son-duo of candidates for contesting the poll. Scheduled caste people. Women em-
former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh The caste factor is again going to play powerment remains a distant dream in
Hooda and Deepender Singh Hooda is a crucial role in the forthcoming Lok Haryana. Traditionally a male bastion
contesting the Lok Sabha elections in Sabha elections in Haryana. All the par- with a skewed sex ratio and high rate
Haryana together from separate constit- ties have selected their candidates very of crime against women, the state has
uencies. MP for three consecutive terms carefully, keeping the caste majority in a poor record of fielding women candi-
from Rohtak constituency, Deepender, that particular Lok Sabha constituency dates.This time, there are only six women
who survived the Modi wave in 2014, is in in mind.This is going to make the clash candidates in the fray for the 10 seats.
the field again, posing a stiff challenge to between candidates of rival parties more The JJP has a lone woman candidate
all other parties. fierce on inl the 10 LS seats in Haryana. in Swati Yadav, who is contesting from
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) Jats have the single majority votes In Bhiwani-Mahendergarh. This, after par-
has lost much of its glory and power after Haryana. More than 17 per cent of the ty leader Dushyant Chautala announced
its break up and is struggling for survival. total electorates in Haryana belong to the last month that his party will field at least
Both INLD and the newly formed JJP are Jat community. On the other hand the three women candidates.
claiming to carry forward the legacy of Brahmin, Punjabi and Bania community Sunita Duggal, a former Indian Rev-
the great late Deputy Priume Minister together have around 30 per cent of the enue Service (IRS) officer, is the only
Chaudhary Devi Lal. Out on furlough for votes. The Other Backward Caste (OBC) woman candidate of the ruling Bharati-
21 days, Devi Lal’s grandson Ajay Chau- and Yadavas account for 25 per cent. ya Janata Party from Sirsa (reserved)
tala, serving a 10-yer jail term in the JBT More than 20 per cent of the voters are seat. Even the Congress, which promises
teachers recruitment scam is canvassing from the Scheduled caste and scheduled 33 per cent eservation for women in
hard for his JJP which is contesting the Parliament and state assemblies, gave
Lok Sabha poll for the first time. the ticket to only two women candi-
AAP is also contesting the Lok Sabha For the first time, dates-Kumari Selja from Ambala (re-
poll in Haryana for the first time in alli- the father son- served) and state legislative party leader
ance with the JJP. Under the seat shar- Kiran Chaudhary’s daughter Shruti from
ing formula, while AAP is contesting on duo of former CM Bhiwani-Mahendergarh. Both women
three seats, JJP has taken up the chal- belong to political dynasties.
lenge on seven seats. The BSP, which Bhupinder Hooda The BSP-LSP alliance has fielded
broke its alliance with the INLD, has and Deepender is Raj Bala Saini from Sonepat and Shashi
now forged alliance with the newly Saini from Kurukshetra. Both are
formed party-LSP of former BJP MP Raj contesting Lok Sabha contesting from Raj Kumar Saini’s LSP.
Kumar Saini. polls together Of the 131 MPs elected from the state
However much the political lead- since it was carved out of Punjab in 1966,
ers deny, the fact is all the elections in from separate women were elected to Parliament only
Haryana, from the Panchayat to the Lok constituencies nine times.
Sabha are based on caste politics. Caste Of them, Selja, was elected four times,

Tehelka / 15 may 2019 34 www.Tehelka.com