Ellenabad byelection: Congress, INLD bank on anti-BJP sentiment
Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 8
The Congress and INLD are pinning hopes on the anti-BJP sentiment in the backdrop of the farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws in the October 30 Ellenabad byelection. The ruling BJP-JJP alliance is playing the non-Jat card.
Cong is only choice
While all sections of society are fed up with the BJP-JJP misrule, Abhay Chautala’s re-election could not resolve the issue of the farm laws, for whose repeal he had resigned. The only choice before the electorate is the Congress candidate. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, leader of opposition
In fact, caste arithmetic seems to have weighed heavily on the parties while selecting candidates for the bypoll. While the INLD has fielded Abhay Chautala, a Jat, who had resigned as the Ellenabad legislator to express solidarity with farmers, the Congress has also placed its bet on another Jat Pawan Beniwal.
With over 50 per cent of the 1.85 lakh voters in the Assembly segment belonging to the Jat community, the candidates’ choice of the INLD and Congress is clearly based on caste factors.
Besides, the Congress and INLD hope to cash in on the anti-BJP sentiment in the wake of the farmers’ agitation to grab the crucial seat.
As Ellenabad is primarily a rural constituency based on agricultural economy, the Congress and INLD are hoping for the support of the farming community in the key bypoll.
Former Chief Minister and Leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Bhupinder Singh Hooda claimed that the Congress would win hands-down in the byelection. “While all sections of society are fed up with BJP-JJP misrule, Abhay Chautala’s re-election could not resolve the issue of the farm laws, for whose repeal he had resigned. The only choice before the electorate is the Congress candidate,” he asserted.
However, in a smart move, the BJP-JJP alliance has fielded Gobind Kanda, a non-Jat face, in the bypoll in a clear bid to polarise the non-Jat voters and take advantage of the division in Jat votes between the Congress and INLD. The party hopes that BJP’s non-Jat and JJP’s Jat base could prove to be decisive for victory of the alliance candidate.
