Rawat or a Muslim: The several factors at play at quaint Hathin

The Assembly constituency, which is a part of Palwal district but falls under the Faridabad Parliamentary constituency, has a significant number of Muslim voters

Even though Tayub faced consecutive defeats in the past two elections as BSP candidate, he received 35,233 votes (22% vote share) and finished third in the 2019 Assembly election. BJP’s Praveen Dagar, who is the incumbent MLA, had secured 46,744 votes that time.

However, eyeing Rawat votes, the BJP, this time chose to give a ticket to Manoj Rawat, upsetting popular face Kehar Singh, who alleged backstabbing and quit the party. Kehar, who is now contesting as an Independent, was elected MLA from here on INLD ticket in 2014 but joined the BJP in 2019.

With failed seat-sharing talks with the Congress and eager to carve out its own vote share, the AAP too betted on a ‘Rawat’ and gave the ticket to Rajendra Singh Rawat.

Disgruntled Kehar’s supporters, however, seem to have chosen the party over names. Ratan Singh, who owns an enterprise of steel gates, makes his support for the BJP clear. “Kehar Singh ki kisi aur ko chali gayi, inko isse nuksaan to hoga. Hum Manoj Rawat ko nahi BJP ko vote de rahe hain, (At the eleventh hour, they decided not to give ticket to Kehar Singh. The move will hurt the BJP. We have decided to vote for the BJP and not for a candidate)” he said.

Several BJP supporters were also worried that this time Rawat votes will get divided. A resident Mahesh Sharma says the Gotra Pal caste, which comprises Rawat, Dagar and Sehrawat, holds the reins here. “Ek baar Rawat Pal ban gayi, ek baar Dagar Pal ban gayi, number toh waise Sehrawat ka tha, (Candidates are chosen turn by turn from this caste, so this time, it had to be from Sehrawat). The last two elections, the BJP went with Dagar and Rawat, but this time, they didn’t give a ticket to Sehrawat,” he said, adding that this could hurt the BJP’s chances in Hathin.

However, for most others, the reins of the seat are with the Muslim voters, who form a sizeable chunk in the constituency’s population. Some say that Muslim vote in the constituency is divided. This fact is also backed by the results of the 2019 elections when two Muslim candidates – Israil and Tayub – secured the second and third spots.

Congress’ Israil’s home in Kot tehsil, Hathin, reverberates of his popularity. “100% Israil will win” Mohammed Sohail, 22, who runs a chicken shop said.

A group of 4-5 people at a common services centre also expressed confidence in Israil’s “ek tarfa” victory. “Pichli baar usse bemaani se harwa diya. Aaj ki date main koi nahi hai uski takkar ka (Last time, they cheated. There is no candidate who can challenge him),” Mohammed Aadil said.

Even though Israil lost the 2019 election by a narrow margin of around 3000 votes, Congress stuck with him as his late father and former MLA from Jaleb Khan, had contested as Congress candidate in 2014.

Nazim, Israel’s son, breaks down the vote share. “We are getting 70-80 per cent of Muslim votes. There are about 50 villages where Muslims are a majority. In around 8 villages, the Roparia Gotra dominate and the INLD candidate belongs to this gotra. Even in these villages, our survey suggests that we have a 50-50 chance,” he claims, adding, in 40 other villages, about 80 per cent are supporting Congress, apart from a majority of 35,000-odd Dalit votes.

“My grandfather carried out several development projects for Hathin. He built the area’s first women’s college, got roads constructed, upgraded the local hospital, built a secretariat and judicial complex,” he says, adding that his father’s priority will be to connect a minor canal to a distributary in Gurugram, which will help irrigate around 8-10 villages.

The mood of the area also swings towards Tayub. “Kaante ki takkar hai Israil aur Tayub ki (It is a neck and neck fight between Tayub and Israil),” says Jatin Singla, 34, a shopkeeper. His neighbour Ram Prasad adds, “Tayub nikaal lega chunaav.”

Further into the market area, a mandli was comfortably settled under a makeshift wooden shade. Of a dozen people, support between INLD and Congress was more or less equally divided.

When Raees, 35, was asked why he is supporting the Congress, he responded “Israil is a good leader”. But he was immediately interrupted by another person, “Tayub badhiya aadmi hai. Pichli do baar se BSP ka ticket tha isliye Tayub nahi jeet paaya, (He fought from the BSP so Tayub couldn’t win).”