Two bulldozers stand on either side of the Delhi-Alwar road, their arms outstretched. As people below mill for a rally of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the arms move up and down, showering them with petals. The five boys dropping the petals in fistfuls from atop the bulldozer are cheered lustily by the crowd. A little over a year after bulldozers rolled into Nuh town as part of BJP government action following riots that left six dead, the machines returned in the Haryana Assembly elections as part of the Opposition’s campaign – with the Congress underlining that “the tools of hate” in BJP hands were “messengers of love” in its. Riots had broken out in Nuh on July 31, 2023, during a VHP ‘Brajmandal Yatra’, leaving six, including two Bajrang Dal leaders, a Nuh resident, a Muslim cleric and two home guards, dead. Between August 3 and August 7, as per estimates of district authorities, 443 structures were demolished in Nuh district, including 162 permanent ones. Nearly 80% of those affected in the demolitions were Muslim. The Punjab and Haryana High Court later stayed the demolitions, taking suo motu cognizance of media reports and asking the government whether properties of “a particular community” were targeted “under the guise of a law and order problem”, and if an “exercise of ethnic cleansing” was being conducted. In Nuh, while the Congress took the lead in trying to send a counter message with bulldozers in the election campaign, the INLD did it too, though on a much smaller scale. Around the same time as Congress supporters were being showered with petals by bulldozers in Nuh on Thursday, INLD Ferozepur Jhirka candidate Mohammad Habib was being welcomed similarly with currency notes elsewhere in the district. Congress worker Abrar Numberdar of Ferozepur Jhirka said: “Yogi baba (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath) has used bulldozers to raze homes. We want to demonstrate that it could be used to show love too.” Another worker, Kadir Khan, said that earlier, during the Lok Sabha elections, bulldozers had been used to shower petals on Congress Gurgaon candidate Raj Babbar. “Kanoon ka istemal karo, bulldozer ka nahin (Follow the course of law, not bulldozer),” added Khan. “The BJP governments in UP, Haryana and Rajasthan have only used it against Dalits, the poor and Muslims. We have yet to see the demolition of a rich criminal’s house. Like Rahulji says, ‘Nafrat ka jawab mohabbat se (Answer hate with love)’.” The Congress’s sitting MLA and candidate from Nuh, Aftab Ahmed, said the BJP used bulldozers as “a weapon of power to demolish the homes of SCs and Muslims”. “By our action, we are countering their politics. Recently, the Supreme Court also took up this matter. Our government won't go against the law and demolish people's homes based on their caste or religion.” He said it was the statement of Baba Balaknath, the BJP MLA from Tijara in Rajasthan, that he would undertake “bulldozer justice” against Mewati Muslims in Alwar that prompted them to mount this counter campaign. INLD Ferozepur Jhirka candidate Mohammad Habib acknowledged the popularity of bulldozers for campaigning in Mewat. But while slamming the BJP for its “bulldozer justice”, he said that more than this, the USP of bulldozers was that “they are bigger than any other machine”. During the campaign, the Nuh riots were a recurring issue, with candidates blaming each other for the flare-up and the state action in its wake. The Congress has repeated all its sitting MLAs in the elections, including in the three seats of the Nuh district – Nuh, Ferozepur Jhirka and Punhana. Among them is Mamman Khan from Ferozepur Jhirka, who was arrested last year for the riots. Given bail in four cases in October 2023, Mamman Khan was slapped with the UAPA earlier this year. Recently, the Haryana Police approached the High Court seeking cancellation of his bail. Among those present at Gandhi’s rally in Nuh on Thursday was Aas Mohammad, who came with his own two bulldozers, which he has had since 1999. After the riots, as police started rounding up people, Mohammad said he left the area. “The houses and shops of many innocent people were demolished by PWD bulldozers. It took months for things to come back to normal.” However, he asserted, that was not why he loaned his bulldozers for the rally, nor did he “read too much” into why parties wanted to use these to shower petals. “People get enthused at their sight… Tractors have been in use for decades and bulldozers can get you higher than any other vehicle. When there are no homes to climb atop, bulldozers come in handy,” he reasoned. Plus, political rallies and meetings are becoming more active and bustling, he said. “Those aged 10 to 80 attend now.” Still, he did have one motivation, Mohammad said. “I didn’t get paid for the use of the bulldozers and, in fact, incurred expenses of Rs 1,000-1,500 a day. But I was fine with that. We need the Congress to win, and I am doing what I can to help.” Mohammad Farid, an MA student at Jhansi who was one of those atop Mohammad’s bulldozers, said: “Since the Model Code of Conduct was in place, there have not been many projects where bulldozers were deployed. So the owners started giving them for campaigning. This was an idea of the Mewatis. Now everyone is noticing us.”
