Their presence threatens to divide votes and sway the balance of power in Haryana, where the ruling BJP faces a tough battle because of a strong anti-incumbency wave and a resurgent Congress. The Haryana assembly election results will be declared on 8 October.

A state level BJP leader told ThePrint: “This phenomenon is new for the BJP which is otherwise considered a disciplined party. A little of rebellion at the time of distribution of tickets is understandable. Still, this time senior party leaders like former cabinet minister Karan Dev Kamboj and former deputy Speaker of Vidhan Sabha Santosh Yadav are among those who revolted and quit the BJP.”

A Congress leader however said rebels standing against the official candidates of the party was nothing new, and has been happening in the Congress for long due to one-upmanship between top leaders. “At one time, we had Bansi Lal and Bhajan Lal groups. Then, Bhajan Lal and Bhupinder Singh Hooda groups worked after 1991. After 2009, when Ashok Tanwar became party president, Hooda, Tanwar and Kumari Selja had three separate groups. And now, we have Hooda and Selja group.”

He added that although the party makes every effort to stop this, there is no choice because there are more aspirants for one single seat. This time, 2,556 people applied for 90 tickets. The party delayed its last list till the last day of nominations in a bid to stop rebellion, but it still happened, he said.

Key constituencies where rebels could play spoilsport include Karnal, Faridabad and Jind.

Jyoti Mishra, a researcher at the Centre for the Study of Democratic Societies (CSDS), told ThePrint that rebels could be particularly disruptive in close contests as they could split the vote among loyalists who feel alienated by the ticket distribution process.

Challenges ahead

As Haryana’s 1,031 candidates prepare to battle it out across 90 assembly constituencies, both the Congress and BJP have launched a damage control effort.

Leaders from both parties have been making public appeals, urging rebels to reconsider their decisions and throw their support behind the official candidates.

Senior BJP leaders — including former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and party in-charge Biplab Deb — have personally reached out to some of the more prominent rebels to resolve their differences.

The Congress, on the other hand, has relied on the influence of senior leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s political family to mediate disputes and reduce friction.

However, as the election campaign intensifies, it is becoming clear that these rebels are more than just a minor nuisance. Many of them command substantial local influence and have loyal voter bases.

Their continued presence on the ballot could not only split the votes of their respective parties but also weaken their overall chances of securing a majority in the assembly.

Both the Congress and BJP could suffer if the rebellion continues unabated.

Haryana’s political landscape is known for its unpredictability and in an election where every vote counts, these dissenters could push the state towards a fractured mandate and a coalition government.

Whether or not the major parties can recover from this internal rebellion remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the rebels are not backing down without a fight.

CSDS’s Jyoti Mishra, quoted earlier, said: “This infighting weakens the official candidates and potentially gives an advantage to rival parties. The presence of rebels complicates the electoral landscape and could significantly impact key battleground constituencies.”

Also read: 2 lakh govt jobs, caste survey among Congress’s ‘7 guarantees’ for Haryana polls

Possible spoilers in key constituencies

One of the most prominent rebels is Savitri Jindal, the BJP’s Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal’s mother and the richest woman in the country.

She is contesting as an Independent against the party’s official candidate, state health minister Kamal Gupta.

The Jindals are an influential family in Hisar and Savitri Jindal’s presence is a big challenge for the BJP’s Kamal Gupta.

Rebellion has also hit the Ambala Cantonment constituency where the Congress has fielded Parmal Pari against former minister Anil Vij while the party’s Ambala City candidate Nirmal Singh’s daughter, Chitra Sarwara, has filed nominations as an Independent.

In the 2019 assembly polls, Chitra contested as an Independent and lost to Vij by nearly 20,000 votes.

In Haryana’s Rewari district, Congress and BJP candidates face threats from ‘silent’ rebels on all three assembly seats.

Congress candidate Jagdish Yadav and BJP candidate Anil Dahina in Kosli, the BJP’s Krishna Kumar in Bawal and the BJP’s Laxman Singh Yadav in Rewari are all grappling with the challenge of internal rebellion.

While some rebels have left the party and entered the fray as Independents, four major figures — Rao Yadavendra Singh (Congress), Bikram Thekedar (BJP), Randhir Singh Kapriwas (BJP) and Banwari Lal (BJP) — haven’t left their parties nor have they shown support for the party’s candidates.

These four hold significant sway in their respective areas, raising fears of internal sabotage across all three seats. So far, no efforts have been made to reconcile with them.

For instance, Jagdish Yadav, the Congress’s candidate from Kosli, faces two challenges. One is former MLA Yadavendra Singh, who hasn’t entered the election as an independent candidate nor left the party. He has indirectly hinted that he will not allow Jagdish to win.

Similarly, the BJP’s Anil Dahina faces a challenge from former minister Bikram Thekedar, who did not get a ticket. Bikram Thekedar is neither contesting as an independent candidate nor has he distanced himself from the party, leaving Dahina vulnerable to internal sabotage as he does not have a significant support base in the constituency.

The rebels are likely to have an impact in tightly contested regions like Karnal, Faridabad and Jind where the margin of victory could be slim and rebels could grab a significant chunk of votes from their former parties.

This could lead to unexpected wins for third-party candidates or Independents, or even give an edge to rivals in major parties.

For instance, in Jind district, Congress rebel Pardeep Gill and BJP rebel Jasbir Deshwal are both expected to pull significant votes, making it difficult for their respective parties to consolidate their voter bases.

Similarly, in Faridabad, discontented BJP leader Deepak Dagar could complicate the ruling party’s chances in a region it has traditionally dominated.

Officially, parties deny any impact

Both the BJP and Congress say the rebels will not have a major impact on their election prospects.

Sunil Parti, media adviser to former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, told The Print the Congress was confident that the rebels would not cause any significant damage to the party’s prospects.

“The people of Haryana have made up their mind to oust the BJP and bring the Congress to power in Haryana. When people make up their minds to bring a party to power, rebels don’t matter at all,” Parti told ThePrint.

Ashok Chhabra, media co-incharge of the BJP, said that barring one or two seats, the rebels won’t have any impact on the assembly elections.

“Chief Minister Nayab Saini, party in-charge Biplab Deb and state BJP President Mohan Lal Badoli have worked hard and convinced a majority of prominent rebels to withdraw from the contest. Now, those left are unlikely to make much impact on the outcome of the elections,” Chhabra told ThePrint.

(Edited by Sugita Katyal)

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