In Dadri, BJP relies on Babita’s sports appeal plus caste maths

CHARKHI DADRI: Star wrestler and “Dangal” girl Babita Phogat, the BJP candidate from Dadri Assembly segment, is riding piggyback on “Modi magic” and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s charisma in a bid to put her political opponents on the mat in the October 21 Haryana Assembly elections.

Babita seeks blessings of elderly women in Dadri. Manoj Dhaka

adeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Charkhi Dadri, October 16

Star wrestler and “Dangal” girl Babita Phogat, the BJP candidate from Dadri Assembly segment, is riding piggyback on “Modi magic” and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s charisma in a bid to put her political opponents on the mat in the October 21 Haryana Assembly elections.

Locked in a four-cornered political fight, the Arjuna awardee is missing no chance to remind the people how Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken the nation forward through bold decisions such as abrogation of Article 370. “I brought laurels to the country and my area in sports. Now, I want to serve my area through the BJP as I was impressed by the policies of Modi and Khattar,” she told a motley crowd at Dadri today.

In fact, Modi’s rally at Dadri on October 15 has come as a shot in the arm for the BJP, which had never won an election from Dadri.

Challenging Babita in the Jat-dominated area, are veteran politicians, including the three-time MLA Satpal Sangwan who switched from the Congress to the JJP after being denied the Congress ticket. The Congress has relied on former MLA Nripender Singh.

However, posing real challenge to Babita would be Somvir Sangwan, a BJP rebel contesting as Independent. Somvir, who lost the 2014 poll by just over 1,600 votes, was denied the BJP ticket.

Besides her celebrity status, the BJP seems to have kept the caste maths in mind while deciding on Babita’s candidature. Candidates from the Sangwan and Phogat khaps (caste councils) belonging to the Jat community have been winning the seat in the recent past. Since Satpal Sangwan and Nripender Singh and Somvir belong to the Sangwan Khap, the division of votes among the three major contenders cannot be ruled out.

Rajdeep Phogat, who won the seat on INLD ticket (he later joined the JJP) in 2014, also belonged to the Phogat khap. He opted out of the contest this time due to personal reasons.

Four-cornered contest

Since three major contenders — Satpal Sangwan (JJP), Nripender Singh (Congress) and Somvir Sanwan (Independent) belong to the Sangwan khap, votes could be divided among them. Babita may get votes of the Phogat khap, besides the traditional BJP votes of non-Jats and youth.