Every party is eyeing Dalit voters in Haryana.
BJP is trying to score a hat-trick of power in the Haryana assembly elections. Congress is desperate to make a comeback after ten years. Parties like INLD and JJP are fighting to save their political survival. In such a situation, all eyes are on Dalit votes. Dalits are the second largest community in the state after the Jat community. Congress is focusing on assimilation of Dalit votes with Jats. BJP is also trying to win the trust of Dalit Congress. In this context, INLD has formed an alliance with Dalit based parties like BSP and JJP. In such a situation, it will be seen who will play the game and who will spoil the game of the oppressed society?
The 21 percent Dalit community is very important in Haryana politics, which has the power to make or break the game of any party. 17 assembly seats in the state are reserved for scheduled castes, which are dominated by Dalits. However, Dalit communities play an important role in 35 assembly seats. The political importance of Dalit votes can be understood from the way all the parties are keeping an eye on Dalit votes this time.
Congress plan for Dalit votes
Congress is completely dependent on Jat and Dalit votes to return to power in Haryana. Jats constitute 30 percent and Dalits 21 percent. Thus Congress is working with the target of adding 50 percent vote bank. Ever since BJP started anti-Jat politics in Haryana, Congress has started equating Dalits with Jats. According to this equation, Bhupendra Singh Hooda has been made the supreme leader of the party. Along with him, Dalit leader Chaudhary Udaybhan has been made the state president. Apart from this, Kumari Shailja is the Dalit face of Congress in Haryana.
In the 2019 assembly elections, the Congress gave a strong fight to the BJP on the strength of the pair of Hooda and Shailja. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Congress has managed to win 5 out of 10 seats in Haryana solely on the basis of Dalit-Jat votes. In the picture seen so far, the Congress is trying to solve the Dalit equation. Dalit voters were leaning towards Congress in the Lok Sabha elections. In the name of saving the Constitution and reservation, Congress and its allies won Dalit votes across the country. The Congress has targeted more than 50 percent of the votes of Jats, Dalits and Muslims.
Can BJP unite Dalits?
BJP lost five seats in the Lok Sabha elections due to dwindling Dalit vote bank. BJP lost both the reserved seats like Ambala and Sirsa and Congress won. Due to the division of the Dalit vote bank, the BJP had to suffer losses in many seats. In such a situation, BJP is making all efforts to woo the Dalit voters for the assembly elections. The BJP has organized conferences at the district and assembly levels focusing on Dalit-majority seats.
Dalits are being given information about central and state schemes in these conventions. Taking their suggestions, the new state government is promising to implement them. BJP has prepared a special program to directly interact with Dalit society. The campaign has been named ‘Manohar Lal no Parivar’. It aims to engage the downtrodden community and ensure solutions to their problems.
INLD’s alliance with BSP
For Om Prakash Chautala’s political heir Abhay Chautala, this election is to save his political survival. Abhay’s party INLD has formed an alliance with BSP. INLD is trying its luck on 53 and 37 seats out of 90. The reason behind the alliance with BSP is to try to get Dalit votes. INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala and BSP leader Akash Anand are trying to energize their workers by going to different areas. The election is also considered very important for the BSP, for which Akash Anand is constantly busy raising the issue of SC-ST reservation.
Talking about the performance of INLD and BSP in the last assembly elections, INLD contested on 81 out of 90 seats in the state. However, it managed to win only one seat. His deposit was forfeited in 78 out of 81 seats. INLD got 2.44 percent votes in that election. While BSP contested on 87 seats but could not win a single seat. Their deposits were forfeited in 82 of these 87 seats. BSP got 4.14 percent votes in this election. In this way, only time will tell whether the political base of BSP and INLD will be able to get Dalit votes together in Haryana.
JJP’s alliance with Chandrasekhar’s party
Both sides of the Chautala family fighting for their survival in Haryana have become dependent on the Dalits. Chautala family’s Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Janayak Janata Party (JJP) had to resort to an alliance. In such a situation JJP has joined hands with Dalit leader Chandrashekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party. JJP will contest in 70 out of 90 seats in Haryana while Azad Samaj Party will contest in 20 seats. After being elected MP from Nagina, Chandrasekhar Azad wants to expand his party, for which he has joined hands with JJP.
As for Dushyant Chautala’s Janayak Janata Party, it contested on 87 seats. It won 10 seats and forfeited its deposit in 14 seats. If we talk about votes, JJP has got 14.84 percent votes. After this election, JJP formed the government together with BJP. This agreement was broken even before the Lok Sabha elections. In such a situation, this election has become a question of credibility for Dushyant Chautala. Now he has to form an alliance with Chandrasekhar to get Dalit votes.
Who will Dalit vote in Haryana?
Ravidas has the largest influence among the Dalit community in Haryana, which constitutes more than 60 percent of the Dalit community. Apart from Ravidasi there are also Valmiki and other Dalit communities. Ravidasi Dalits are completely with Congress. Other Dalit communities are scattered with different parties. In such a situation, Ravidasi community dominates the politics of Haryana. Haryana’s Dera Sacha Sauda Sirsa also has a significant influence on Dalit votes. The head of this camp, Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim, is serving a life sentence in the rape and murder case. In such a situation, the way political chess is being played over Dalit votes, it is clear that all the parties are eyeing Dalit votes.
