Caste polarisation gets shriller

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Jind, January 19

With polarisation of voters on caste lines becoming sharper after comments by certain Jat leaders, the Congress on Saturday made an attempt to woo the Punjabi community while the BJP tried to make inroads into Agarwal voters.

Led by Bharat Bhushan Batra, former MLA from Rohtak, several Congress leaders belonging to the Punjabi community (who migrated at the time of Partition) held a press conference to denounce the statements of Jat leader Hawa Singh Sangwan and former Independent MLA Sukhbir Singh Farmana.

Sangwan had termed the Punjabi community, to which Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and BJP’s Jind candidate Krishan Midha belong, as “Pakistani” and had told people not to vote for them.

Farmana, who had addressed a meeting in support of Congress candidate Randeep Surjewala, had likened Punjabis to “fritters that look beautiful, but lead to stomachache if eaten”.

Though Surjewala had already distanced himself from Farmana’s statement and denounced it, the BJP had been exploiting this by saying the Jat leader said all this in the presence of the Congress candidate and state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, but none objected at that time.

Batra termed Sangwan as an agent of the BJP and criticised Farmana’s statement, saying the Congress had nothing to do with him.

With Jat quota violence also casting its shadow on the bypoll, Batra and other Punjabi leaders in the Congress held the BJP government responsible for the February 2016 incidents of arson and violence.

“The BJP government holds opposition leaders responsible for quota violence, but Parkash Singh Commission appointed by the government held SPs, IGs, DGP and the Chief Minister’s Office responsible for it,” Batra claimed.

Meanwhile, Urban Local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain and her husband Rajiv Jain (Khattar’s media adviser) tried to make inroads into the Agarwal community on Saturday. They met former minister and four-time MLA from Jind Mange Ram Gupta and sought his blessings.

Members of the Agarwal community had been nursing a grouse against the BJP for not giving the ticket to a member of the community. Khattar’s private secretary Rajesh Goel, who hails from Jind, had been working overtime to woo Agarwal voters.

Meanwhile, Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda on Saturday campaigned for the Congress nominee. Together with Surjewala, Deepender addressed meetings in Ikkas, Intal Kalan, Intal Khurd, Jajwan, Dhanda Kheri, Dariyawala and Sangatpura and sought votes for the Congress.

“The BJP government is out to shatter brotherhood, but the Congress believes in unity of all 36 biradari (communities) living in the state,” Deepender said.

Surjewala termed himself as “Jind ka beta” (son of Jind) and said together with Deepender, he would make Jind a more developed town that Rohtak and Kaithal.

Deepender represents Rohtak in Parliament. Randeep MLA from Kaithal at present. Rajya Sabha member Kumari Selja would campaign for the Congress nominee from Sunday.

Abhay Singh Chautala of the INLD on Saturday alleged that the BJP government had been discriminating against the rural youth in the name of providing jobs on merit.

He claimed that those who had studied in rural schools were unable to compete with those who had passed out of urban schools.

Addressing members of District Bar Association in Jind, he said the INLD had already demanded several times that the rural youth should get 20 per cent additional marks in competitions for jobs.

For JJP nominee Digvijay Chautala, his mother and Dabwali MLA Naina Chautala campaigned for the second successive day on Saturday.

Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala addressed a series of election meetings. He alleged that the BJP government had given stepmotherly treatment to Jind in the past four years.

Leaders’ statements that drew flak

• Jat leader Hawa Singh Sangwan had termed the Punjabi community, to which Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and BJP’s Jind candidate Krishan Midha belong, as “Pakistani” and had told people not to vote for them
• Independent MLA Sukhbir Singh Farmana, who had addressed a meeting in support of Congress candidate Randeep Surjewala, had likened Punjabis to "fritters that look beautiful, but lead to stomachache if eaten"