“Like previous elections, there is only one factor: Bhajan Lal family versus anti-Bhajan Lal in Adampur seat,” says Om Prakash Gill, an old supporter of Lal’s family, at his village Dobhi of the Adampur constituency where a bypoll will take place on November 3. Gill, a Jat, admits that several Jats in the constituency don’t like him because of his family’s continuous support to Bhajan Lal family but “I don’t care”. Om Prakash, while laughing, says: “Ve kahte hain hum Jat nahi Gill hain (Jats say we are not Jat but Gill (gotra).”
According to Om Prakash, the major support base of Congress candidate Jai Prakash comes from the Jat community. “That’s why the Jats don’t like our support to Bhajan Lal’s grandson Bhavya Bishnoi (BJP candidate). This has been happening with us for the past several years,” says Om Prakash. Jats consist of nearly one-third of total 1.71 lakh voters in Adampur constituency.
Among remaining over one lakh voters, three segments of the society—Bishnois, BCs and SCs—consist nearly equal vote share. Apart from Jats, Congress has more hopes from SCs particularly Chamar community apart from others. Like previous elections, BJP’s hopes are from non-Jats.
The Bhajan Lal family never lost an election from Adampur ever since 1968 when Lal himself was elected from here first time. He remained Chief Minister of the state for three times. But after 1996, Bhajan Lal and Kuldeep Bishnoi remained out of power. Gill says: “In subsequent elections, the election started turning into Bhajan Lal versus anti-Bhajan Lal here with opponents trying to unseat the family from the seat for more than two decades. The Bhajan Lal factor has always been here, no matter their party affiliation. But still this family has been managing to win the seat, though, sometimes with a lower margin.”
Meanwhile, a feeling has been gaining ground in the constituency that JJP’s votes will go to Congress candidate Jai Prakash, who is normally called JP. JJP of Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala is an alliance partner in the BJP-JJP coalition government in Haryana. Adampur assembly segment is part of Hisar parliamentary seat where Dushyant Chautala and Bhajan Lal family members have locked horns against each-other in 2014 and 2019 parliamentary election. In 2014, Dushyant Chautala (then in INLD) had defeated Kuldeep Bishnoi (then in HJC) in a tough contest. In 2019, Dushyant (as JJP candidate) and Bhavya Bishnoi (then in Congress) contested against each-other but Brijendra Singh (BJP) won the poll battle from Hisar. Dushyant remained in second place while Bhavya Bishnoi lost the security deposit.
Here, it’s considered that if Bhavya Bishnoi wins the Adampur bypoll with a thumping majority, then it would strengthen Bishnoi family’s claim over Hisar parliamentary seat which JJP supporters may not like. However, JJP state president Nishan Singh, who was spotted in Balsamand village Sunday, says: “Our votes will certainly go to Bhavya Bishnoi as a message has already been conveyed to the voters.” Apart from a poll meeting of Dushyant Chautala at Balsamand village on Monday, Chautala would also accompany Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at an election rally at Adampur on Tuesday, which would be the last day of the poll campaign for the bypoll.
With Bhajan Lal family centric election in the constituency, Kuldeep Bishnoi, his wife and former MLA Renuka Bishnoi and Bhavya Bishnoi have scheduled separate election meetings for almost every day. At Dhobi village, Bhavya Bishnoi attended two events of tea programmes Sunday. In the same village, Kuldeep Bishnoi had gone for similar events at two places on Saturday.
On its part, the BJP has fielded its MLAs, MPs and ministers in support of Bhavya Bishnoi. However, the critics are not impressed and say: “Many of them are just limited to holding press conferences at neighbouring Hisar town.” BJP has also fielded 83 “vistarak” too to collect all relevant information about the voters and to update the leadership. “I have been assigned five polling booths in Balsamand village to undertake door-to-door visits,” says a vistarak who is from Panipat. BJP being a ruling party and Bhajan Lal family’s influence in the constituency had initially given an impression that the poll battle would be an easy task for Bhavya Bishnoi. But its former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son Deepender Singh Hooda, whose back-to-back meetings in the constituency have turned the election battle into a tough direct contest between Bhavya Bishnoi and JP here.
