BJP, Tanwar to make going tough for Hooda in Jatland
Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 7
It is tough going for the Congress in Sonepat, Rohtak and Jhajjar districts located in the Jatland, considered the stronghold of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, in the Assembly elections.
Hooda loyalists, who defied the Modi wave in the 2014 Assembly elections by romping home on 13 seats in the Jatland, are fighting with their backs to the wall in view of an aggressive posture by the BJP and former Congress chief Ashok Tanwar posing a challenge to the Congress, especially Hooda.
A day after resigning from the Congress, Tanwar choose former Chief Minister’s stronghold Rohtak to flex his political muscle by organising a meeting of his supporters. Tanwar’s utterances and activities indicated that the former Congress chief would make the going tough for Hooda, who he has accused of “hijacking” the Congress
Hooda’s stronghold is already on the agenda of the BJP, which is riding high on its wins in Sonepat and Rohtak in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. The BJP, which recently organised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Rohtak, is relying on micro-management of the election campaign through “panna pramukhs” (in charges of voter list pages) which paid it rich dividends in the Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP leadership hopes that the party’s nationalist narrative in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and tough posture against terrorists will stand it in good stead in the Jatland, which contributes significantly to the armed forces.
The win on all 10 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, especially in Sonepat and Rohtak, has given the BJP a reason to believe that it can reverse the 2014 trend and do well in Jatland this time.
“The BJP will definitely replicate the success of the parliamentary elections. The Congress, especially Hooda, will bite the dust in his strongholds of Sonepat, Rohtak and Jhajjar districts,” claimed Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu.
