What dented BJP in Haryana: Backlash in Jat stronghold

The Muslim-dominated seats of Nuh, Ferozepur Jhirka and Punhana are in southern Haryana. The Jat-dominated seats, which fall in Rohtak, Jhajjar and Sonipat districts, are Beri, Jhajjar, Meham, Badli, Baroda and Garhi Sampla-Kiloi.

In the Muslim-dominated constituencies, the BJP relied on INLD turncoats Zakir Husain in Nuh and Naseem Ahmed in Ferozepur Jhirka — both were seeking re-election from their respective constituencies. In Punhana, the BJP fielded debutant Nouksham Chaudhary. However, these constituencies maintained their voting pattern, which was evident in Thursday’s results.

In Nuh, Congress candidate Aftab Ahmed defeated BJP’s Zakir Hussain by 4,038 votes, while in Ferozepur Jhirka, Congress’s Mamman Khan defeated BJP’s Naseem Ahmed by 37,004 votes. In Punhana, Congress’s Mohd. Ilyas defeated Independent candidate Rahish Khan, while BJP candidate Nouksham Chaudhary was nowhere in the fight.

Among the Jat seats, Beri saw Congress candidate Dr Raghuvir Singh Kadian defeat BJP’s Vikram Kadian by 12,952 votes, while in Jhajjar, Congress candidate Geeta Bhukkal defeated BJP candidate Rakesh Kumar by 13,751 votes.

Full list of winners constituency wise

In Baroda, Congress candidate Sri Krishan Hooda defeated BJP’s Yogeshwar Dutt by 4,840 votes and in Meham, independent candidate Balraj Kundu defeated Congress’s Anand Singh Dangi by 12,233 votes. Here, BJP’s Shamsher Singh finished third.

Badli saw Congress’s Kuldeep Vats defeating BJP’s Cabinet minister Om Prakash Dhankar by 11,245 votes, while in Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, Congress’s Bhupinder Singh Hooda defeated BJP’s Satish Nandal by 58,312 votes — the biggest victory margin in these Assembly polls.

Beri, Meham, Badli, Garhi Sampla-Kiloi and Jhajjar Assembly segments fall in Rohtak parliamentary constituency, from where BJP’s Arvind Kumar Sharma defeated Congress’s Deepender Singh Hooda in the Lok Sabha polls just five months ago. Baroda constituency falls in Sonipat parliamentary constituency, from where BJP’s Ramesh Chander Kaushik defeated former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the same parliamentary elections.

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The caste factor appears to have played a vital role in deciding the BJP candidates’ fate in the Jat-dominated seats. Despite the BJP fielding Jat candidates here, the party’s image as a non-Jat party and failure of Jat leaders within the BJP to secure reservation for their own community seem to have gone against them. Forty lives were lost in Haryana during the Jat quota stir. Later, a large number of Jats were arrested on charges on charges of vandalism.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, too, the BJP candidates who won by huge margins failed to make inroads in these Assembly segments.

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In Nuh, the BJP had got 34,258 votes while the Congress had polled 82,116 votes. Similarly, in Ferozepur Jhirka, BJP had got 26,466 votes while the Congress had led the segment with 1,08,324 votes. In Punhana, the BJP had polled 22,267 votes against Congress’s 81,876.

Similarly, in all Jat-dominated Assembly segments, the BJP had trailed the Congress during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.