Reportedly the bjp was once a junior partner of the indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana, not very different from its partnership with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab. It was a part of the state government led by INLD patriarch Om Prakash Chautala. The party faces anger, particularly from the farming communities most prominently the Jats with the 2020-21 farmers’ agitation being a major plot twist. It has, in the past, sought to consolidate the non-Jat votes while the Jat vote would get divided.
Perhaps the congress has put all its weight behind long-time warhorse bhupinder singh Hooda, who was cm for 10 years before the BJP’s decade began in 2014. The party is, however, saddled with long-running internal feuds. Kumari Selja a prominent Dalit leader, gandhi family loyalist and former Union minister has been quite open about her political ambitions. Another gandhi loyalist, Randeep Singh Surjewala’s son Aditya Surjewala, has got the ticket from Kaithal.
Moreover there are other players on the field, most prominently the divided Chautala clan that is split between the INLD and JJP. Dushyant’s JJP, which was new last time but got 10 seats, had taken away a major chunk of the traditional INLD vote, making an emotional pitch that the younger lot had been wronged and thrown out by the older lot, particularly his uncle Abhay Chautala. The JJP’s partnership with the bjp later gave it a seat on the power table, but also confused, even frustrated its supporters, who saw it as a betrayal of the original mandate. Dushyant has been facing tough questions, particularly from the farming communities, over his equation with the BJP.
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