New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is still celebrating its victory in the Haryana Assembly elections. A day after declaration of results, several party leaders and workers gathered at Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s residence to congratulate him for his role in the party’s win and discuss the formation of the new government.
Against this backdrop, another Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh has taken aim at Khattar without naming him and accused the former Haryana chief minister of trying to weaken his and his daughter Arti Rao’s position in his stronghold—the Ahirwal belt of the state.
Addressing BJP workers at his residence, Rampura House in Rewari, Rao Inderjit said: “We had a chief minister… I will not take his name. He tried to divide us, pit us against each other for 10 years. He tried to introduce new leaders. Someone who hasn’t been able to establish himself as a leader till date tried to hinder our hard work of 40 years.
“The public has responded to him, even if the party hasn’t. I think the party will definitely take cognisance of this now. The area, whose people have helped form the government for the third time, should be taken care of.”
He added that Arti’s win in the Ateli assembly constituency was ensured by the BJP workers’ hard work. “We were expecting Arti Rao, my daughter, to win by a margin of 15,000 votes. Our opponent tried everything to defeat her, but our workers worked day and night to ensure her victory … my effort was to bring forward the new generation in the area. That’s why, I worked to get party tickets for newer faces.”
Without taking Khattar’s name, the BJP MP from Gurgaon alleged that some party leaders opposed his attempts to field different candidates in some seats.
“When I wanted to change the candidate in Bawal, some of the leaders of our own party were not in favour of it. But I explained to the leadership that they would not be allowed to enter the village. The party changed the candidate to Dr Krishna Kumar and the people helped him win with a huge vote count.”
A Haryana BJP MLA and Rao Inderjit loyalist told ThePrint, “In the Bawal seat of Rewari, Khattar was adamant on fielding minister Banwari Lal, who was previously a Rao supporter, but later switched loyalties to Khattar when he became the chief minister.”
He recalled, “During a party meeting, when Khattar pressed for Banwari Lal, Rao remarked that his supporters would not even allow him to enter the area and pressed for Krishan Kumar instead, who resigned as the director of health services on Rao’s instruction. The high command had to ultimately accommodate his candidate, who won the seat.”
Krishan, the new MLA, told ThePrint, “We are hopeful that the party will regard Rao Inderjit’s contribution in getting BJP elected to power for a third time. We as loyal supporters want a higher position for him.”
BJP’s election campaign was largely led by CM Nayab Singh Saini. However, given Saini’s close association with Khattar and the influence that Khattar wields in Haryana BJP, Rao Inderjit aims to build pressure on BJP’s top leadership to get them to accommodate his wish list and compensate his loyalists in distribution of power in the state.
“Most senior BJP leaders, like Om Prakash Dhankar and Captain Abhimanyu, lost the election, and veterans like Ram Bilas Sharma were denied a ticket. Except Anil Vij, who is among the senior most now. Rao Inderjit now knows that Khattar can become super CM,” a source within the party said.
Adding, “Another challenge for Rao Inderjit would be that Khattar may try to push the name of Rao Narbir Singh—a minister in Khattar’s government from Ahirwal—for a berth in the new cabinet. Rao Inderjit will be pushing for his daughter’s induction as minister.”
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‘The undisputed leader of Ahirwal’
The GT Road belt and Ahirwal region in southern Haryana are considered the strongholds of BJP in the state. The areas around GT Road came to be dominated by BJP after rapid urbanisation along the highway from Delhi to Ambala, rising real estate prices and concentration of urban assembly segments. Ahirwal saw BJP’s influence grow after Rao Inderjit moved to the party from Congress in 2014, as he is a key figure in the area owing to his royal and political lineage. His father, Rao Birender Singh was a former chief minister.
In the GT Road belt, BJP won 14 of 23 assembly seats this time—more than the 12 seats they won in 2019, but lesser than 2014, when they swept the area by winning 21 seats.
Khattar, Saini, Anil Vij, Subhash Sudha and Mahipal Dhanda are among the top BJP leaders from this region, which is largely non-Jat-dominated.
However, this time, the Ahirwal belt was a major factor in BJP’s retention of power. It bagged 10 of the 11 assembly seats in this region. Even in 2014, BJP had won all 11 seats. The party has fared better in comparison to 2019, when it won in eight constituencies.
Anil Dahina, newly elected BJP MLA from Kosli in Rewari district, who was backed by Rao Inderjit, told ThePrint, “Rao is the undisputed leader of this belt. All BJP candidates won in this area due to him and we expect the party will keep this in mind while picking the CM.”
The only seat in Ahirwal, where the party lost was Nangal Chaudhry. The BJP candidate here—Abhe Singh Yadav—is among Khattar’s confidants.
Rao Inderjit, in his address to party workers, also took a jibe at Yadav, saying, “We won most of the seats. The one seat where we lost … the public responded to the ahsaan faramosh (ungrateful).”
“Yadav lost in Rao Inderjit’s belt despite being backed by Khattar because people know Rao better,” said the MLA quoted above.
“Rao Inderjit knows that BJP has a comfortable majority this time, unlike 2019 when it was dependent on JJP (Jannayak Janta Party). Despite his contribution, there are lesser chances of him being given the chief ministerial position. So, he is creating pressure on the party to accommodate his loyalists in the cabinet. Most ministers in Saini’s government have lost the polls. These were the ones who had been given tickets on Khattar’s recommendation,” a Haryana BJP functionary told ThePrint.
Adding, “In Haryana BJP’s power structure, Khattar is more influential and Saini is Khattar’s protégé. By attacking Khattar’s performance, Rao Inderjit wants to dilute Khattar’s dominance in party’s affairs and make sure that he doesn’t enter his territory.”
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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