Caste central to Congress candidature in state

Though the Congress has tried its best to balance the caste equation while selecting its candidates for the Assembly elections,how far it translates into votes remains to be seen as the Jats continue to dominate the scene.

Though the Congress has tried its best to balance the caste equation while selecting its candidates for the Assembly elections,how far it translates into votes remains to be seen as the Jats continue to dominate the scene.

The first list that was released on Wednesday proves beyond doubt that the party has already seen the potential danger from the Bahujan Samaj Party and has fielded OBCs and scheduled castes in big numbers. Whatever may be the issues in the state,it’s the caste that rules and decides which way the political wind will blow.

Fielding Jats is no less than a compulsion for Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who trounced his bete noire and former chief minister Bhajan Lal in the race to the top post after the previous elections on his strength among the Jats. He had always been projected as a Jat leader on the lines of the Indian National Lok Dal chief Om Prakash Chautala. He was presented as a Jat face of the Congress as the Congress did not have a strong Jat leader to counter Chautalas. He had thrice defeated the former deputy prime minister Devi Lal thrice from Rohtak parliamentary seat. Hence,20 Jats among the 68 candidates declared so far comes as no surprise.

Here what is important is that the party seems to be genuinely concerned about the influence of the BSP in the state and has taken steps to counter that by fielding more OBCs and scheduled castes this time. The party has fielded 13 OBCs and 12 SCs in the first list. The BSP share of 15.73 per cent votes in the previous Lok Sabha elections was almost equivalent to the INLD share of 15.75 per cent. This rang alarm bells in the Congress,especially looking at the figure of more than 10 Assembly segments which the BSP led in the last Lok Sabha elections.

In light of these figures,the party would have disturbed all Congress equations of caste in the state,where it plays a significant role. The party has also not taken the risk of annoying Punjabis since the resentment of any particular community beyond an extent in the Assembly elections may boomerang on the ruling party. It has fielded nine Punjabis so far and has also adjusted six Brahmins. Significantly all political parties in the state play the caste card prominently and are known for their allegiance to different communities. The INLD banks on Jats,the newly-created Haryana Janhit Party on non-Jats,the BSP on SCs and OBCs,though all of them call themselves as representatives of 36 biradaris.

Party sources say the remaining list of the party would also be settled on the basis of the caste equation and hence it was taking more time.

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