New Delhi. The BJP high command had regained control after the setback in the Lok Sabha elections. Congress was acting as if they had ousted the Modi government. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, following the politics of knock-knock, started claiming that now Congress will win Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, then Maharashtra and Jharkhand. And with this defeat, the process of downfall of Modi government will also begin. But it seems that this excessive self-confidence has sunk the Congress in Haryana and now it is preparing to come to power in Kashmir riding on the shoulders of the National Conference.
Reports were coming from the ground that farmers, soldiers and wrestlers were angry with BJP. BJP was in power in Haryana for ten years by doing non-Jat politics, hence there was definitely an anti-incumbency wave. In such a situation, the BJP high command replaced Chief Minister Khattar and made Naib Saini the CM. With this, the anti-incumbency feeling growing against CM Khattar among the workers ended. On the other hand, by giving tickets to many new people, BJP made it clear that public trust will remain intact on these fresh faces.
War was not easy – PM Modi’s silent workers made the work easy
Even after removing CM Khattar, the BJP high command was not able to breathe a sigh of relief. On one hand, there was anti-incumbency attack and on the other hand, our workers sat at home. CM Saini did not have time but one thing was good that he was meeting everyone bowing down. Home Minister Amit Shah had taken the entire command behind the scenes. In mid-June, experienced Dharmendra Pradhan was made in-charge of elections in the state. Pradhan’s specialty is that he understands the subjects deeply, away from glitz and does not move away from ground zero. He continuously maintained his camp in Rohtak, Panchkula, Kurukshetra. Throughout the day he would hold small meetings in Haryana. After taking direct and real time feedback from the workers, he would return to Delhi late at night and give feedback to the top leaders and leave for Haryana again the next morning.
Dharmendra Pradhan worked hard
When resentment spread after ticket distribution, Dharmendra Pradhan kept working day and night to pacify the angry people. Pradhan was successful in convincing the angry people and by identifying the weak booths, he was successful in turning the strong workers of other parties in his favor. Pradhan repeatedly kept motivating the BJP workers to work with double enthusiasm on the ground and not get disheartened by the campaign against BJP going on on TV and social media. The special thing is that all these messages were given directly to the workers and during this period Pradhan was not seen making or explaining strategies on TV.
Miracle of PM Modi’s silent voters
The whole country knows about PM’s silent voters, but PM Modi’s silent workers have set such an example of victory in Haryana too, which no one will be able to match in the coming years. On the lines of Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP MP Surinder Nagar was given the command of more than 18 assembly seats in districts like Faridabad, Palwal, Gurugram. There was a lot of resentment regarding ticket distribution in these areas and the voters were indifferent. But Surinder Nagar also strengthened his roots in these areas by adding one brick at a time. Delhi leader Kuljeet Chahal kept working among such workers in Rohtak and Jhajjar areas for a month. Obviously, the role of these silent workers of PM Modi also helped in strengthening this war.
Farmers expressed confidence in double engine government
The exit poll results had completely wiped out BJP. The situation was such that defying all the opinion polls and exit polls, BJP came to power in Haryana for the third consecutive time. Now the analysts will be busy calculating their numbers, but it is clear that getting majority in this agricultural state only means that the farmers have voted for the double engine government. Farmers are getting full benefits of all the schemes of Modi government. Be it Kisan Samman Nidhi or Jan Dhan accounts, farmers are getting relief from the fact that the government is depositing money directly into their accounts. Farmers have also started to understand that BJP is not anti-farmer. Talks were being raised about BJP regarding the farmers’ movement, but BJP’s third consecutive victory proved how effective the Modi government has been in changing the lives of farmers.
BJP government’s attack on corruption
If sources are to be believed, there was a large silent section of the society in Haryana which did not want the return of the anarchic and corrupt government of Congress and Bhupendra Hooda government. This class is the one which has seen the BJP government waging a campaign against corruption during the Khattar period. This is the class which has seen casteism and money becoming dominant in government jobs. This is the class which has seen the bags of politicians being filled. In such a situation, after seeing the conflict with the non-Jat politics and corruption of the Khattar government, he was once again stopping himself from trusting the old Congress. That’s why the people of Haryana expressed confidence in the Khattar government.
Non-Jat vote bank expressed full confidence in BJP
According to the data, BJP won most of the OBC and SC seats in these elections. All the exit pollsters showed that 22.5 percent of the votes of Scheduled Caste i.e. Dalit community of Haryana were going to the Congress account. But exactly the opposite happened. Out of this total 22.5 percent Dalit votes, only 8.5 percent votes are from Jatav, Regar and Ravidasi communities. This vote was divided among BJP, Congress, BSP-INLD. Whereas all the votes of the deprived Scheduled Castes, whose total share in the population is 14 percent, fell on the lotus symbol of BJP. On the other hand, Congress’ marginalization of Kumari Selja also gave a message to the Dalit community that Congress is anti-Dalit. On top of this, the fear of dominance of Jat community among Dalit community also divided the electoral politics between Jat and non-Jat.
The Khattar government of Haryana had named these deprived castes as DSC i.e. Deprived Scheduled Caste. Many welfare schemes were started for them. It is believed that all other political parties were against this classification. To ensure that the votes of the DSC community go to BJP, announcements were made from the forums of the DSC community. The leaders of the society worked to strengthen the BJP by running campaigns in their community. According to BJP sources, it made fun of this society through its anti-Dalit mentality and Rahul Gandhi’s statement of going to America to remove reservation, due to which Congress had to face defeat in Haryana.
Congress faces defeat in direct competition in Haryana
Once again it became clear that Congress could not stand against BJP in a one-on-one fight. Once again, giving a thumbs up to AAP and Samajwadi Party, Congress has announced to contest elections alone in Haryana. Everyone put forward their candidates. Just a few months before this, BJP had defeated Congress in a direct contest in states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan. In Chhattisgarh and MP, where analysts and exit polls were building the story of BJP’s defeat, their victory was no less than a miracle. It is obvious that Congress is not able to survive in direct competition with BJP in one election state after another.
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BJP recovers from Lok Sabha setback
In Haryana, 67.9 percent voting took place in these assembly elections, which was close to 67.94 percent in 2019. But in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, only 64.8 percent voting took place in Haryana. This time, 3.1 percent more votes were cast than in the Lok Sabha elections. This 3.1 percent voters probably included those supporters of BJP who did not vote in the Lok Sabha elections due to some reasons. This proved one more thing that this time the election managers of BJP, who were engaged in removing the dissatisfaction of the workers on the ground, played their role very well. Sources are saying that this time, to convert defeat into victory, Sangh workers were also seen working shoulder to shoulder with BJP on assembly seats. However, BJP-Congress will continue to analyze the victory and defeat. But it is certain that these results have overcome the shock of the Lok Sabha elections. It will act as a booster dose in the assembly elections to be held in Maharashtra and Jharkhand in the coming days.
Tags: BJP, BJP Congress, Haryana BJP, Haryana election 2024
FIRST PUBLISHED: October 8, 2024, 17:48 IST