Former CM Manohar Lal Khattar’s photo missing from poll posters

Once dominated by BJP’s campaign materials, Union Minister and two-time CM Manohar Lal Khattar’s photo is missing from the party’s campaign material even during the big rallies. In a recently held rally of Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath in Assandh, which is a part of Karnal Lok Sabha Constituency represented by Khattar, his photo was missing, sparking speculations that it may be a step of the party to counter potential anti-incumbency sentiments ahead of the Haryana Assembly elections.

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Even as the BJP is riding high on Khattar’s “jobs on merit” initiative, which abolished the much-criticised practices of “parchi” and “kharchi” (nepotism and bribery) to win over young voters and counter negative sentiments, the absence of his picture has raised eyebrows.

Party workers are wondering if this is a deliberate move by the party to place more emphasis on new leadership, such as CM Nayab Singh Saini, who has been central to the party’s current electoral strategy.

Political analysts say the absence of Khattar’s photo is hard to ignore, especially in the rally within his constituency. They say his photo is conspicuously missing from posters and may be a part of a strategy to reduce the impact of anti-incumbency in the elections.

“While the BJP might be trying to promote its newer faces such as CM Nayab Singh Saini, it’s undeniable that there could be concerns around anti-incumbency, particularly as Khattar has been in power for nine-and-a-half years,” said Dr Kushal Pal, a political analyst and principal Indira Gandhi National College, Ladwa.

BJP leaders remained tight-lipped about the missing photo but were quick to say that in future it will not repeat. “The design of the backdrop was finalised by the state unit. We will take care in future,” said Yashpal Thakur, convener of Assandh Assembly elections. Party candidate and district president Yoginder Rana refused to comment on it and highlighted the focus on merit-based jobs and development projects.

State media co-incharge Shamsher Kharak said photographs of Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar were not put at all rally venues as there are two other Union ministers from Haryana as well and it is not always possible to display the photographs of all of them at all events.

The Congress has already started to attack by questioning the BJP’s loyalty towards Khattar. “If the BJP is so proud of their governance, why is their former CM missing from the posters? This is clearly an admission of the failure of his nine-and-a-half-year tenure,” said Shamsher Singh Gogi, former MLA and Congress candidate from Assandh.

— With inputs from Sunit Dhawan, Rohtak