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Journalism of Courage
The BJP won the Jind assembly constituency in Haryana as its candidate Krishan Middha wrested the seat from the main opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). Congress party’s Randeep Singh Surjewala, who was party president Rahul Gandhi’s choice for the bye-election, settled for the third spot.
Politically, it’s a humiliating defeat for the national spokesperson of Congress who could secure just third spot in the bypoll. But technically, Surjewala is already a sitting MLA. He may argue that he turned the election battle into a tough contest, whereas earlier the party was not considered a serious contender in the bypoll.
Congress will say that the ruling party keeps winning bypolls. But interesting aspect will be how Congress reacts internally. The Congress is already known for groupism here. There may be a series of blame games over the defeat of Surjewala. Out of 17 Congress MLAs, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda camp has 13 MLAs. They may intensify the demand to give the command of Haryana Congress to Hooda or seek his projection as next CM candidature of party.
After a win in the recent civic polls, this will be a further booster for the BJP workers. BJP will make every effort to take advantage of this win in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
It’s major setback for the INLD leader and Leader of Opposition, Abhay Chautala, who is looking after organisational structure of the party in the absence of his father Om Prakash Chautala, who is currently lodged in Tihar jail. The bypoll result has proven that Abhay’s nephew Dushyant Chautala’s outfit JJP has attracted a large support base of the INLD. There will be no surprise, if more INLD leaders move to the JJP after the bypoll results.
The Jind bypoll has again proved deep-rooted caste politics around Jats and non-Jats in the state. Caste was an important factor in the selection of candidates as well in the campaign. The political parties had kept in mind the caste equations when they selected leaders for particular areas. Split in the Jat votes is seen one among the reasons behind the win of a Punjabi community member in the bypoll. AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal’s support to Digvijay Chautala was seen as an effort to woo non-Jats, especially Baniya community members. The caste-based support, especially from Sainis and Brahmins, is believed to be the main contributing factor behind significant support to BJP rebel MP Raj Kumar Saini backed Vinod Ashri in the bypoll.
