In Haryana Assembly with most voters, top BJP leaders contend for ticket

But what has heightened the excitement of the three BJP aspirants for Badshahpur is that in the recent Lok Sabha polls, the BJP secured its maximum votes from an Assembly segment – 1.2 lakh votes – here. The BJP won five Lok Sabha seats in the elections. The Badshahpur Assembly seat is one of the nine segments falling under the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat, won by the BJP in the recent polls.

Jawahar boasts of people’s support due to his “development works” in the constituency while Narbir, who claims to have the support of panchayat heads, says that the constituency saw “the most development” during his tenure as MLA between 2014 and 2019. Kamal cites the backing of Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh and BJP Central Election Committee (CEC) member Sudha Yadav.

Claiming that the denial of a ticket despite his “bright prospects” will not affect his work, Najafgarh-born Jawahar says: “I have been working for the party for 37 years, and only thought of contesting now. I will continue to work for the party irrespective of who is nominated as I believe in its ideology.”.

The former OSD to Khattar, who has also served as the chairman of the Haryana Housing Board, has also been highlighting his work in regularising unauthorised colonies. However, a section of the district BJP leaders are apprehensive about Jawahar’s nomination saying he is not from Gurgaon and is not a frequent visitor. “When Yadavs from Gurgaon are in contention, it is unlikely that a Yadav from Delhi will be chosen (as the candidate),” a senior leader said.

The “local” Yadav in contention is Kamal, who has started convening booth-level meetings. “I have worked in Badshahpur for 15 years and as the district president, I know the cadre well,” the Chakrapur native says.

According to BJP estimates, the Badshahpur constituency has around 1.25 lakh Ahirs (Yadavs), while Jats number around 60,000, followed by about 50,000 Scheduled Caste (SC) members, 35,000 Brahmins and 30,000 Punjabis. Other communities such as Gujjars, Rajputs and Muslims follow.

Narbir, who is also confident about being picked by the BJP, may have dented his prospects following his recent run-ins with party leaders, including Khattar. What is also held against him are his “connections” with Congress Mahendragarh MLA Rao Dhan Singh, who is under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Narbir’s daughter is married to Dhan Singh’s son Akshat.

“In the last election, I was not picked due to a conspiracy by opponents, but this time their manoeuvres will yield no results,” Narbir told supporters at a recent meeting. He also heaped praises on Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and Khattar last week claiming that his earlier statements against the party were misconstrued.

However, a senior district leader indicated the party’s discomfort with Narbir, including over “past discrepancies in his affidavits”. Another BJP leader who has been making noises about the Badshahpur ticket is Manish Yadav, the party’s 2019 candidate from the seat, who has been holding meetings.

A senior BJP leader said the party has shortlisted three-five candidates each for most of the 90 seats. “We factor in organisational commitment as well as individual efforts. Also, there is the local, non-local factor. We have conducted surveys to ascertain the popularity of leaders,” she said, adding that they were “certain of a victory” in Badshahpur. There is another angle in the Badshahpur contest. Daultabad’s widow Kumudini is likely to be in the fray as an Independent.