Capt Abhimanyu, OP Dhankar get key roles in other states

Tribune News Service

Pradeep Sharma

Chandigarh, March 28

Ignored in Haryana, two senior leaders and Jat faces of the BJP—Capt Abhimanyu and OP Dhankar—have been given crucial responsibilities outside their home state.

BJP relies on non-Jat faces

Wiith the BJP primarily relying on non-Jat votes in the upcoming Lok Sabha poll, the party wanted a more prominent role for non-Jat leaders. The elevation of Nayab Singh Saini, the OBC face of the party, as CM and prominent role for Khattar in the run-up to the elections has to be seen in that context

While Abhimanyu is in charge for the Lok Sabha elections in Assam, an important state in the Northeast having 14 seats, Dhankar will be in charge for New Delhi, which has seven seats.

Both senior leaders, who remained ministers in the Khattar government from 2014 to 2019, were claimants for tickets for the Lok Sabha elections.

Abhimanyu was considered to be the top contender from the Hisar parliamentary constituency while Dhankar’s name was doing the rounds from the Rohtak seat. Ahead of Abhimanyu and another senior leader, Kuldeep Bishnoi, the BJP reposed faith in Ranjit Singh, an Independent MLA from Raina, who joined the party recently, for the Hisar seat.

After their defeat in the 2019 Assembly elections, Abhimanyu was not given any major responsibility, though Dhankar was elevated as the state unit chief. However, he was replaced by Nayab Singh Saini last year. Saini later became the CM.

In fact, their lobbying for a Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana also did not find favour with the party high command. Meanwhile, the BJP has decided to nominate Subhash Barala, a former Haryana BJP chief and confidant of Khattar, as the party candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat.

Sources said with the BJP primarily relying on non-Jat votes, it wanted a more prominent role for non-Jat leaders.

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