BJP’s Haryana Rebellion Intensifies, Another Senior Leader Quits Party

Chandigarh: The rebellion in the Haryana BJP sparked by leaders being denied tickets for the upcoming elections intensified on Saturday with a former minister joining the ranks of those who have quit the party.

Former Haryana minister Bachan Singh Arya was hoping for a ticket from the Safidon Assembly constituency but the BJP decided to field Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) rebel Ram Kumar Gautam, who had joined the party earlier this month. The JJP was a BJP ally until Nayab Singh Saini replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as the Haryana chief minister in March this year. 

The BJP had released its first list of 67 candidates on Wednesday and Mr Arya, who had lost from the Safidon Assembly constituency by a margin of about 3,500 votes in 2019, had posted a couplet on social media the next day, in which he spoke of injustice and hinted at a rebellion

“Laga do aag pani mein, shararat ho to aisi ho. Mita do hasti julmo ki, bagawat ho to aise ho. (Set fire to water, if there is mischief, let it be like this. Erase the existence of injustice, if there is a rebellion, let it be like this),” the former minister had posted. 

On Saturday, Mr Arya announced he was quitting the BJP in a terse four-line letter, stating that he was resigning from the primary membership of the party and the state executive.

Mr Arya’s resignation follows the exit of two Haryana ministers – Energy Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Social Justice Bishamber Singh Valmiki – and MLA Lakshman Napa, who were denied tickets. Key OBC leader Karan Dev Kamboj also resigned from all posts in the BJP for the same reason.

While Mr Chautala announced that he would contest as an Independent, Mr Napa said he would join the Congress.

The loss of Mr Chautala, 79, can hurt the party as he is the son of Chaudhary Devi Lal, one of Haryana’s tallest leaders, who served as chief minister twice and was also a deputy prime minister.

“I am Chaudhary Devi Lal’s son. I have some stature… I have decided to contest as an Independent,” Mr Chautala had said on Thursday.

Some of the leaders also alleged that loyalists were not being valued by the BJP.

“Perhaps the BJP does not need loyalists anymore,” Mr Kamboj had said, adding that the party was rewarding leaders who had joined recently while ignoring those who had served it for years. 

‘No Scope For Change’

Amid the rebellion, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini had said on Friday that speculation over changing candidates should end as there was no scope for doing so.  “Everyone wants a ticket, but the ‘lotus’ (BJP’s symbol) can be given to only one person… It is natural for ticket-seekers to get angry. But they will be persuaded,” he said.

The BJP, which has ruled Haryana since 2014, faces a stiffer challenge this time because it lost five of the state’s 10 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress this year after sweeping all of them in 2019. The protests by farmers – who are seeking a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) – last year’s agitation by wrestlers, and concerns over the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the Army are seen as posing challenges to the party in the state. 

Congress Jolted Too

The Congress, which got a boost after inducting wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia into the party on Friday, also got a jolt on Saturday – just a day after releasing its first list of 32 candidates for the Haryana polls. Senior leader Rajesh Joon resigned from the Congress and decided to contest as an Independent candidate after being denied a ticket from Bahadurgarh, where the party decided to retain sitting MLA Rajinder Singh Joon. 

“The Congress leadership cheated me. I was promised a ticket but the promise was not kept. I will become an MLA by polling double the number of votes that the Congress candidate gets,” Mr Joon said. 

In the Baroda Assembly constituency, Congress leader Kapoor Singh Narwal said he was promised a ticket by Mr Hooda, but it was given to Induraj Singh Narwal.

“They have cheated the people of the constituency, not me. I will take a call on contesting as an Independent tomorrow (Sunday),” Kapoor Singh Narwal said, even as sources close to him indicated he could leave the party.