Haryana BJP rebel, former minister: ‘We are willing to fight the party as Independents … There is unrest among OBCs’

“Why will those committed work if the party fields opportunists? … entire OBC Morcha is united,” says Karan Dev Kamboj, who has resigned as Haryana BJP OBC Morcha chief.

"There is unrest among OBCs and many have resigned," Kamboj said. (Photo: Facebook/ Karan Dev Kamboj)

Ahead of the Assembly polls, the Haryana BJP suffered a blow on Thursday when several disgruntled leaders miffed about not getting poll tickets either quit their party or ministerial posts or raised the banner of rebellion. One of the biggest setbacks was the resignation of state OBC Morcha president Karan Dev Kamboj, who chaired a meeting of all 36 biradaris (OBC castes) in Radaur in Yamunanagar district, the seat whose ticket he wanted.

At the meeting, BJP workers decided that they might contest as Independents if the BJP does not accommodate their names in the lists to follow. In an interview with The Indian Express, Kamboj speaks about the reasons behind his resignation and his plans. Excerpts:

You have resigned as the state BJP OBC Morcha chief. Have you also quit the party?

I have not quit the BJP but I have quit my post as the Haryana OBC Morcha president. The tickets for the coming Assembly elections have been distributed wrongly. They have given tickets to rebels who stabbed the party in the back in the past.

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Have you rebelled because you were not given a ticket in the first list?

Shyam Singh Rana has been fielded from Radaur instead of me. He has been a defaulter of the party and the people. Had they fielded a committed worker instead of me, I would have had no problem.

I prepared myself for any one of two seats: Indri and Radaur. From Indri, they gave the ticket to the sitting MLA Ram Kumar Kashyap. He has a bad image and will lose badly. From Radaur, they have fielded Rana, who quit the party for five years and joined the INLD. He joined the BJP again after the (recent) Lok Sabha elections and was fielded immediately after that. For those five years, he was publicly criticising even the Prime Minister. What is the purpose of fielding such a person?

In the last couple of months, the Congress has been targeting the BJP over its silence on the caste census. What will be the impact of your resignation on Haryana OBCs?

There is unrest among OBCs and many have resigned. There were 150 vehicles stationed in Radaur to campaign for the BJP. Yesterday, we returned all the vehicles. We had a big panchayat today and we took the decision that we (leaders gathered) will fight the elections, whether the party fields us or not. We are also willing to fight them as Independents. The entire OBC Morcha is united. This was a panchayat of all 36 OBC biradaris in Radaur at the Kamboj Dharmashala.

Has Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini contacted you in the last two days?

He came to meet me yesterday, but I do not want to divulge the details of the conversation.

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What do you think will happen in the Assembly elections?

Dekho oont kis karvat baithta hai (Let us see what happens). If wrong tickets are distributed, people will quit (the BJP). There were other issues such as the farm agitation, but their impact was gradually diminishing. But why will committed workers work if the party fields opportunists? It seems the party will defeat itself if it gives the wrong tickets.

What were some of the things you worked on as state BJP OBC Morcha chief?

When Manohar Lal Khattar was the Haryana CM, he reduced the creamy layer cut-off income from Rs 8 lakh per annum to Rs 6 lakh per annum. We put pressure to get it restored to Rs 8 lakh.

The annual scholarships for OBC children increased from Rs 12,000 to Rs 20,000. We also tried to get the OBC backlog seats filled. We were also working towards getting the total quantum of reservation for OBCs increased to 27% in the state, with 16% for the OBC A category and 11% for the OBC B category, in sync with what is believed to be the OBC population in the state.

Vikas Pathak

Vikas Pathak is deputy associate editor with The Indian Express and writes on national politics. He has over 17 years of experience, and has worked earlier with The Hindustan Times and The Hindu, among other publications. He has covered the national BJP, some key central ministries and Parliament for years, and has covered the 2009 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and many state assembly polls. He has interviewed many Union ministers and Chief Ministers. Vikas has taught as a full-time faculty member at Asian College of Journalism, Chennai; Symbiosis International University, Pune; Jio Institute, Navi Mumbai; and as a guest professor at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. Vikas has authored a book, Contesting Nationalisms: Hinduism, Secularism and Untouchability in Colonial Punjab (Primus, 2018), which has been widely reviewed by top academic journals and leading newspapers. He did his PhD, M Phil and MA from JNU, New Delhi, was Student of the Year (2005-06) at ACJ and gold medalist from University Rajasthan College in Jaipur in graduation. He has been invited to top academic institutions like JNU, St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and IIT Delhi as a guest speaker/panellist. ... Read More

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