New Delhi: After surprise victories in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh few months back, BJP has done it again this time with a hat trick win in Haryana, mocking at all the exit polls which predicted a Congress sweep, to say the least. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state that the BJP’s best ever performance in the state defying perceived anti-incumbency has surprised even insiders. The JAKIP (Jawan, Kisan, Pehalwan) factor was projected as a formidable fortress the saffron party would find impossible to surmount.
Though the ruling party found itself at the receiving end in the perception battle, its unexpected win is certain to make not just psephologists and pollsters put on their thinking caps but even the opposition to mull over what went wrong in what was perceived to be a cake walk for the opposition, so much so that the Bhupendra Singh Hooda and Kumari Selja camps had started lobbying hard for the Chief Ministerial crown.
Even as the BJP’s well oiled booth level machinery worked overtime to ensure that its supporters exercised their franchise, the over confident Congress ended up annoying the non-Jat communities, with the narrative of Jat consolidation against the saffron party. While the wrestlers, led by Vinesh Phogat, attracted the sympathy of the sports loving electorate, their joining the political mainstream lend credibility to the BJP’s assertion that the agitation was politically motivated.
Haryana has been at the forefront of serving the armed forces and the Opposition gameplan was to put both the Central and the state Government on the mat on the issue of Agniveer scheme. Yet, they were short sighted to realise that the large number of Haryanvis in the security forces, both serving and retired, immensely benefited from the One Rank One Pension scheme implemented by the Modi Government. Also the strong nationalist sentiment among the state’s populace also widely appreciated the free hand given to the armed forces to defend the borders as also the tough stance taken by New Delhi in responding to external threats whether from Pakistan or China.
The farmers’ issue too was projected as a critical issue expected to derail the BJP’s prospects. On the one hand, the protests in Haryana against the farm laws were majorly confined to the districts bordering Punjab. Secondly, with the Modi Government taking a U turn on the issue, the anger among the farming community was diffused to a great extent. The people in Haryana were also not impressed with the Khalistani elements both within Punjab and countries like Canada and USA, projecting the farm law as anti-Sikh and discriminatory against the community, whereas they had extended support to what they perceived to be a purely agrarian issue.
But more than the aforementioned factors, BJP’s emphatic victory has little to do with Congress’ internal political, squabbles and its inability to cash in on anti-incumbency. Despite the change of guard in the state, what the BJP succeeded in sending across regions and communities was the message that governance was not based on “kharcha and Parcha” (corruption and recommendations) and that the system was not discriminatory or biased towards any particular community or region, which became clear with the deep inroads the saffron party made in what is electorally referred to as Jatland, in addition to its strongholds in Ahirwal, Delhi NCR and Urban areas.
Many of the pro-poor initiatives and the massive infrastructural development, particularly roads and metros criss crossing the state also influenced the voting pattern. The benefits of a ‘double engine Sarkar’ too made sense to the electorate of the largely agrarian state.
The poll outcome in Jammu and Kashmir too was on expected lines with the BJP winning majority of the seats in Jammu and the National Conference sweeping the polls in the valley. More than for any political party, the holding of peaceful polls in the militancy prone state, the absence of any boycott call or stone pelting, the huge turnout of voters is a victory for Indian democracy itself. The people of the state were yearning for a democratic Government. They wanted to take up their grievances and aspirations with their elected representatives as against bureaucrats, howsoever noble the latter’s intentions may be. While National Conference had promised to restore Article 370, the average Kashmiris themselves know that it is now next to impossible. Yes, restoration of statehood is what all the political parties in the state including BJP had promised and the Supreme Court itself had mandated.
One can only hope that the NC-led coalition would now work for a ‘Naya Jammu and Kashmir’ in close cooperation with the Central Government as the people of the state have for long suffered as victims of sub-continental politics.
(The author is a Delhi-based Educationist and Political Commentator)
