JULY 14, 2019 • THE WEEK 41AFP
ter to send a message to the sizeable
Punjabi community in the state,
which had overwhelmingly voted in
favour of the BJP.
Th e infl uential Jat community,
which makes up nearly 30 per cent
of the state’s population, has since
been accusing the state government
of failing to protect their interests.
But the Jat protests seem to have
had no impact on the Lok Sabha
results.
Haryana has traditionally voted
for the party in power at the Centre,
so the BJP is eyeing 65 of 90 seats.
“We do not discriminate,” said
Barala. “Government schemes were
given to all the communities on
the basis of merit. Khattar is a good
administrator.”
Th e BJP had done a Haryana-like
experiment in Jharkhand, too, by
appointing a non-tribal as chief
minister in 2014. Party leaders say
Raghubar Das was chosen as the
BJP wanted an able administrator
who could govern well and help
it dominate Jharkhand as it did in
Chhattisgarh, where the party ruled
for three consecutive terms.
Das’s focus on welfare measures
helped the BJP and its ally, the AJSU
Party, win 12 of 14 Lok Sabha seats
in the state. In March, two RashtriyaPeople of Andhra
Pradesh wanted the
BJP. But they voted
to defeat Naidu. Now
many leaders are
joining us. They know
they will not be able
to win on their own.”.
—Sunil Deodhar,
BJP national secretarythe event of a hung Parliament. After
the results, Shah ridiculed Naidu for
focusing on cobbling together an an-
ti-BJP coalition than on ensuring the
TDP’s victory. Poaching TDP leaders
was the BJP’s way of adding injury to
insult.
In West Bengal, Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee is facing a similar
assault. With assembly polls due in
2021, hostilities between Trinamool
and BJP workers have intensifi ed.
“Th e anarchy is increasing,” said BJP
general secretary Kailash Vijayvargi-
ya. “After the [Lok Sabha] results,
Mamata Banerjee lost her mental
balance, as is evident in the way she
is handling the administration. Th ou-
sands want to join the BJP as they
trust Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
With assembly elections in Harya-
na, Maharashtra and Jharkhand due
later this year, and Delhi early next
year, the BJP is busy inducting leaders
of all ideological hues. “Th e [ideolog-
ical] purifi cation can wait; now we
need to build on our strengths,” said a
BJP leader.
Th e BJP onslaught in Haryana,
where the party won all 10 Lok Sabha
seats, has left the Jat-dominated
INLD in disarray. Th e BJP began
attracting the INLD’s Jat leaders into
its fold after it inducted Birender
Singh, grandson of peasant leader Sir
Chhotu Ram, in 2014. Singh had been
in the Congress for four decades.
Th e BJP is also focusing on up-
rooting another major opponent,
Congress veteran and former chief
minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Th e party has tried to corner Hoo-
da by inducting leaders who had
contested against him earlier—such
as Dharampal Makroli and Prem Sin-
gh—and highlighting the CBI cases
against him. “Our aim is to win,” said
state BJP president Subash Barala.
“When the people’s mood and our
strategy match, we win.”
Th e BJP fi rst came to power in
Haryana in 2014. It chose a non-Jat,
Manohar Lal Khattar, as chief minis-