BJP second Haryana list sparks new discontent as it drops ministers, party unit chief; picks Muslim faces

Significantly, Trikha has been the only woman minister in the BJP Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. She had defeated in the Badkhal seat Congress candidates Vijay Pratap Singh and Mahendra Pratap Singh in the 2019 and 2014 polls, respectively.

Badoli, who represents the Rai seat in Sonipat district, has been replaced with Krishna Gehlawat. Earlier, Badoli had declared that he would not contest the October 5 Assembly elections as he would “focus on trying to make the party win in all 90 seats of the state”.

The BJP appointed Badoli as the Haryana party president after he lost the recent Lok Sabha election from the Sonipat constituency to the Congress’s Satpal Brahamchari by over 21,800 votes. He replaced CM Saini as the state party chief, who was holding dual posts.

The BJP’s first list of 67 candidates announced last week triggered widespread resentment in the party ranks. Today’s second list, too, caused discontent in the party, with state unit executive member Shiv Kumar Mehta sending his resignation from the party to Badoli. He was a ticket aspirant from the Narnaul seat, from where the party has fielded Om Prakash Yadav.

State BJP spokesperson Satyavrat Shastri also resigned from the party’s primary membership, alleging that the party has moved away from its values and was influenced by people with “opposite ideology”.

“I have been working for the party for 45 years. They kept ignoring me and telling me each time to prepare for the next time. The same happened this time. Now I have quit the party and will focus on social service,” Mehta told The Indian Express.

The BJP has replaced its candidate in the Pehowa seat, Kawaljeet Singh Ajrana, with Jai Bhagwan Sharma following protests from the latter’s supporters after the first list featured the name of Ajrana, the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee spokesman.
In 2019, the Pehowa seat was won by former Indian hockey team captain Sandeep Singh as a BJP candidate. He also remained a minister in the previous Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government despite facing sexual harassment allegations. However, after taking over as the CM earlier this year, Saini dropped Sandeep from his ministry. The party also denied him ticket from Pehowa, replacing him with Ajrana, who has now been dropped too.

The party has fielded Capt Yogesh Bairagi against Congress candidate Vinesh Phogat, the Olympian wrestler, in the Julana seat.

The second list features two women candidates. It also has two Muslim nominees from the Mewat region, including Naseem Ahmad (Ferozepur Jhirka), and Aizaz Khan (Punahana).In 2019, too, the party had fielded two Muslim candidates.

In today’s list, the BJP has also named four Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates, three each from the Jat, OBC, Rajput and Punjabi communities, two Brahmins, and a Sikh.

Of its altogether 87 candidates declared so far, the BJP has fielded 17 SCs, 16 Jats, 19 OBCs, five Rajputs, 11 Punjabis, 11 Brahmins, five Vaishyas, two Muslims and one Sikh. The party has thus tried to balance caste and community equations.

The party is yet to declare its nominees for the three remaining seats, which include Faridabad (NIT), Mahendragarh and Sirsa.

Haryana Lokhit Party chief Gopal Kanda, an NDA ally, and his brother Govind Kanda (currently in the BJP) are said to be seeking three seats from the BJP, which apparently wants to leave only Sirsa for them. In the 2019 polls, Gopal Kanda had won from Sirsa, defeating Independent Gokul Setia (now the Congress nominee) and the BJP candidate.

‘Har Ghar BJP’ campaign in J&K

Facing an uphill task in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir polls, the BJP on Tuesday launched its campaign “Har Ghar BJP” in the Union Territory (UT) in a bid to bolster its public outreach at the grassroots level. While the party has had a significant presence in the Jammu region, it has been virtually non-existent in the Valley.

The BJP’s J&K poll in-charge and Union minister G Kishan Reddy launched this campaign from the Jammu West constituency, along with the party’s national general secretary Tarun Chugh, who is also the in-charge for J&K and Ladakh.

“This extensive outreach effort seeks to inform citizens about the various schemes and policies introduced by the Narendra Modi-led government, which have contributed to peace and prosperity in J&K. Through this campaign, the party also intends to educate voters on key developmental plans and the future roadmap for the region, as detailed in the party’s manifesto,” Chugh said.