In LS poll, BJP may field a Jat from Rohtak

Sunit Dhawan

With the next Lok Sabha elections nearing, speculation is rife about the candidates different political parties are likely to field in the 10 parliamentary constituencies of Haryana. 

From the Rohtak Lok Sabha constituency, the Congress is likely to field its sitting MP Deepender Singh Hooda, who has won the seat thrice in a row. Also, he was the only Congress candidate in the state to have emerged victorious in the 2014 parliamentary elections despite a vote sway in favour of the BJP that was riding on Narendra Modi’s charisma.

The BJP is also likely to field a Jat candidate from the Rohtak seat despite the fact that its support base largely comprises urban non-Jat voters and traders. 

Noted Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag, whom the BJP was said to be considering as a candidate from Rohtak, had recently denied having any plan to contest the elections. Former Army Chief Gen Dalbir Suhag (retd), who was also reportedly being considered by the BJP, has not indicated his interest in contesting the elections.

The other names doing the rounds are Baba Balaknath of the Baba Mastnath Matth at Rohtak, and Haryana Cabinet ministers Om Prakash Dhankar and Capt Abhimanyu. 

“The BJP leadership will make an effort to neutralise the caste factor by fielding a Jat candidate to take on Deepender Hooda, especially in view of the fact that Jat voters are present in a large number and dominate a considerable area of the constituency,” says Prof Rajender Sharma, head of Department of Political Science at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak.

On the other hand, some political observers feel that the BJP may try to re-employ the Jind byelection formula in the Lok Sabha poll as well. In the Jind byelection recently, the Congress, JJP and the INLD had fielded Jat candidates while the BJP fielded a non-Jat nominee, who got the benefit of the division of Jat votes and emerged victorious. For the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress, JJP and the INLD are also likely to field Jat candidates from the seat. Hence, some analysts believe that the BJP may try to reap the benefit of the division of Jat votes in Rohtak as well.