Bhavya Bishnoi who represents Bishnoi community is set to face a challenge from the other candidates of Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Indian National Lok Dal. All three parties’ candidates Jai Prakash (Congress), Satender Singh (AAP) and Kurdaram Nambardar (INLD) are Jat leaders.
Jats dominate with a maximum of 55,000 votes, while Bishnoi community voters are around 28,000. There are also around 26,000 Scheduled Castes, 29,000 of Backward Classes (A) category, 4800 votes of Backward Classes (B) category, around 4,000 votes of Punjabi community, 750 votes of Muslims, 1900 votes of Rajput community, 75 votes of Christians and 1,000 votes are of the Sikh community.
While the BJP is heavily banking on the non-Jat voters, there is a strong possibility that the Jat votes shall get divided among the three Jat candidates. By bringing Dushyant Chautala-led JJP on board and sharing stage with Dushyant on the last day of campaigning in Adampur, BJP is also eyeing a significant chunk of Jat vote bank that follow Dushyant, who too comes from the Jat community.
Dalit voters may play a significant role in this bypoll considering there are around 30,000 (21,000 votes of Harijans, around 8200 votes of Khati and 6500 votes of Kumhar community).
This is one of the reasons for which both BJP-JJP coalition and Indian National Congress have launched scathing attacks and had been accusing each other of not doing enough for the Dalit community. Polling will take place on November 3 for which 180 polling booths have been created in 57 villages. A total of 22 candidates will contest this bypoll.
The bypoll also has a distinction — all four major candidates are party hoppers. BJP-JJP’s Bhavya Bishnoi was earlier in Congress, AAP’s Satender Singh quit BJP to join AAP, INLD’s Kurdaram Nambardar quit Congress and joined INLD, while Congress’ Jai Prakash is a known party-hopper who had remained in almost every party in Haryana before coming back to Congress.
While chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, in his rally at Adampur, elaborated his government’s initiatives towards all sections of the society including Dalits and how his government ensured a holistic development in the State, Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda refuted government’s claims.
Khattar also took a dig at Hooda and Indian National Congress citing the exit of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee’s former chief Ashok Tanwar and replacing Kumari Selja with Hooda’s loyalist Udai Bhan. Both Tanwar and Selja represent Dalit community. However, Udai Bhan, too is a Dalit.
“If BJP was a well-wisher of Dalits and backwards, then why did it shut down 5000 government schools where children from poor, farmers, Dalits and backward classes study the most. “Why did the BJP government stop the stipend of poor, backward class and children from the most backward sections of the society? Why has this government abolished the pension of lakhs of destitute elders of these classes? Why Skill Corporation was started by eliminating government jobs? Why were Dalits and backwards not given reservation in the jobs of Skill Corporation,” Hooda questioned.
“Why did the government stop the plan of allotment of 100 yards of plots run by the Congress as soon as it came to power? Why did this government reduce the limit of creamy layer from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 6 lakhs to snatch reservation from backward classes? They must answer why the BJP is running away from caste census, while Congress supports it. Obviously the government has no answer to these questions, so its leaders want to mislead the public with the help of baseless and meaningless words. The public will teach BJP a lesson by the power of its votes,” Hooda added.
Adampur is the constituency that Haryana’s former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s family had never lost since 1968. Bhajan Lal’s son Kuldeep Bishnoi had been a four time MLA from Adampur. Bhajan Lal’s grandson and Kuldeep’s son Bhavya Bishnoi is now BJP-JJP coalition’s candidate in Adampur.
In fact, BJP is also trying to ride on Bishnoi family’s clout in the constituency for which the party even brought Bhajan Lal’s wife Jasma Devi on stage in Adampur on Monday to further strengthen it’s prospects in the by poll. Khattar also showered praises on Bhajan Lal and called Adampur as the former chief minister’s “Karmbhoomi”.
Congress, on the other hand, had been accusing Kuldeep as a traitor who quit the party and joined BJP for his ‘personal gains’.
