BJP acted in time to ‘sideline’ Khattar to win Haryana: Rocky

Singer-activist Rocky Mittal claimed today that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP took the right step at the right time by ‘sidelining’ former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar during the Haryana Assembly election campaign. According to Mittal, this move helped the BJP overcome anti-incumbency and secure victory in the polls.

Rocky, who had long been a prominent voice in the BJP’s campaigns with songs praising Modi and criticising the Nehru-Gandhi family, switched to the Congress for the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections. However, he emphasised that he holds no grievances against Modi or the BJP.

Modi my ‘guru’

I had absolutely no problems with Modi and the BJP. However, I had problems with Khattar as he wanted me to be a ‘Manohar follower’ while I wanted to be a Modi follower. —Rocky Mittal, Singer-activist

“Modi was my ‘guru’ and will always be my ‘guru’. My issue was with Khattar, who wanted me to become a ‘Manohar follower’, but I will always remain a Modi follower,” Rocky said in an interview with The Tribune for its digital show “DecodeHaryana.”

Rocky further claimed that by sidelining Khattar, the BJP sent a message to voters that if elected, Nayab Singh Saini would be free from the former CM’s influence, and the Haryana Government would not be “remote-controlled” by Khattar.

He also cited the BJP’s successful manipulation of the Jat-non-Jat narrative as one of the factors behind their win.