In the lead-up to the recently concluded Haryana assembly elections, anti-incumbency sentiment was expected to surge, fuelled by farmers’ protests and other significant issues weighing on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress banked heavily on the unrest among farmers, wrestlers’ protests, and caste divisions to build a narrative that seemed poised to propel the party to the top of the state’s political landscape.

However, the election results told a different story. So, how much impact did the protesting farmers have on the assembly elections? In the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress saw an increase in both the number of seats and vote share in Haryana, largely attributed to the farmers’ discontent with the BJP.

Three years ago, when a coalition of peasant organisations successfully forced the rollback of three controversial farm laws, it was perceived as a significant blow to the Narendra Modi-led Union government. The euphoria of this so-called victory among farmer leaders soon transitioned into a political campaign against the BJP. Although their demands, including the legalisation of the Minimum Support Price (MSP), remained a focus, the protests took on an increasingly political tone.

A Mixed Outcome For Farmers

The Haryana assembly results revealed a mixed outcome for the protesting farmers. While the BJP’s popularity appeared to dip after the Lok Sabha results, the assembly election results signalled a change. Initially, the protesters succeeded in shaping the narrative. From staging pickets against BJP leaders during campaigns to public outreach and demonstrations, the farm leaders left no stone unturned. Protests at administrative offices and toll plazas further reinforced their message, but the overall mandate suggests their efforts had limited impact.

Gurnam Singh Charuni, a prominent farmer leader who played a key role in the protests against the now-repealed farm laws, managed to secure only 1,170 votes in Pehowa, finishing fifth. The seat was won by Mandeep Chatha of the Congress, who defeated BJP’s Jai Bhagwan Sharma by more than 6,500 votes.

Charuni, 64, who has faced multiple imprisonments since 1992 due to his activism, is the president of a faction of the Bhartiya Kisan Union. He contested the election under his political party, the Sanyukt Sangharsh Party (SSP). It is said that Charuni was initially seeking a Congress ticket to challenge the BJP but decided to contest independently when that didn’t materialise.

In contrast, state BJP leader and former Haryana minister Anil Vij managed to retain the Ambala Cantonment constituency despite facing significant farmer protests. He defeated independent candidate Chitra Sarwara, a former member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), by over 7,000 votes, with Congress candidate Parvinder Pal Pari trailing in third place.

Vij – who was dropped from the cabinet when Manohar Lal Khattar was replaced as chief minister by Nayab Singh Saini in March – was heavily targeted by farmer unions throughout his campaign. They picketed his election rallies, and protests followed his campaign trail.

However, in Hisar and Ratia, where BJP candidates also faced intense protests over farm issues, the party suffered losses. In Hisar, BJP leader Kamal Gupta finished third, while in Ratia, Sunita Duggal lost to Congress candidate Jarnail Singh by over 21,000 votes. Gupta had previously won the Hisar seat in both the 2014 and 2019 assembly elections. In Ratia, sitting BJP legislator Lakshman Dass Napa quit the party after being denied a ticket.

The Border Impact

In constituencies bordering Punjab – a state that strongly rejected the BJP and has a robust base of farm unions – the election results were more polarised. Congress secured nine seats, while the BJP won three. Of these, the BJP managed to retain one but lost five to the Congress. The Congress kept two seats but lost one to the BJP. Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which was once allied with the BJP, lost the two seats it previously held in the Punjab border region – one to Congress and the other to the BJP. Notably, the JJP failed to win a single seat in this election.

Farm Politics And Political Leanings

Despite many Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders being directly connected with anti-BJP parties, the group largely stayed out of the elections. In 2022, the SKM severed ties with the Samyukta Samaj Morcha (SSM) led by Balbir Singh Rajewal and Charuni’s SSP.

The poster boy of the 2020-2021 anti-farm law protests, Rakesh Tikait, previously contested elections, but without success. On the other hand, Hannan Mollah, a senior leader of the All India Kisan Sabha and former member of Parliament from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), won from West Bengal’s Uluberia eight times.

The political leanings of most SKM leaders are rooted in socialist or Left ideologies – traditionally anti-BJP. However, the peasant leaders likely missed a critical lesson from 2020 when, during the height of the protests, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a majority in the Bihar assembly elections, despite the anti-farm law sentiment.

Undeterred, farm leaders continued to campaign against the BJP in subsequent state elections. While the BJP won governments in Assam and Puducherry, other parties triumphed in states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, where SKM leaders claimed some credit for the electoral outcomes, particularly in West Bengal, where Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress scored a major victory.

Despite these efforts, two years later it seems that while farm-related issues may have influenced voters in border areas, they failed to swing the overall mandate away from the BJP.

(Jayanta Bhattacharya is a senior journalist writing on polls and politics, conflict, farmer and human interest issues)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

Chandigarh:

Senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday said the outcome in Haryana was opposite to the atmosphere was in the state.

He also said the results came as a surprise to the party.

The BJP emerged victorious in 48 seats while the Congress won 26 seats and was leading in one seat, according to the Election Commission. The BJP is set to form the government for a third straight time, bucking anti-incumbency and overcoming the setback in Lok Sabha polls when its tally dropped from 10 in 2019 to five seats.

Replying to a question on the results, Mr Hooda told reporters, “The results have left us ‘achambhit’ (stunned) and the BJP must also be ‘achambhit’. These results are opposite to what the atmosphere was in the state.”

“What is the role of ‘tantra’ (system), we will probe. We lost many seats with low margins,” he further said.

“We received complaints from many places as well. The way the delay took place. Anyhow, the AICC will meet the ECI. There is no doubt that these (results) have left us ‘ascharyachakit’ (surprised),” Mr Hooda said.

Earlier in the day, the Congress raised with the Election Commission the issue of an “unexplained slowdown” in updating of results of Haryana elections on the poll watchdog’s website and urged it to direct officials to update accurate figures so that “false news and malicious narratives” can be countered immediately.

Dismissing talk of any factionalism in the party, Mr Hooda said the Congress was united in the elections.

“In a democratic party, anybody may have differences but there cannot be ‘manbhed’,” he said.

On Congress leader Kumari Selja blaming coordination in the party, Mr Hooda asked who was responsible for proper coordination. He then said it was everyone’s job.

Replying to a question on the Congress raising the issues pertaining to EVMs, he said, “There must be something. We received complaints from candidates.” To a query on the consolidation of non-Jat votes in favour of the BJP, he said there was nothing like that.

Asked about his next course of action, Mr Hooda said in a democracy “whatever is the people’s decision, we will accept it”.

On party leader Jairam Ramesh raising doubts over the results, Mr Hooda said, “We will accept it under protest.”

Asked again about the reason behind the defeat, he said the situation at the ground was completely in favour of change. “That is why I am saying, these (results) are surprising.” 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:

Ahead of the Haryana assembly elections, the Congress Party on Saturday released its manifesto with major promises ranging from free electricity, free medical treatment, financial assistance to women, MSP guarantee to the farmers and conducting caste census in the state.

The manifesto was released in the presence of Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) President Udai Bhan.

In the major highlights of the manifesto, the Congress party has promised to provide 300 units of free electricity and free medical treatment up to Rs 25 lakhs to every family in Haryana.

On similar lines as Madhya Pradesh’s ‘Ladli Behen Yojana’ and Maharashtra’s ‘Ladki Behen Yojana’, the Congress has also promised to provide Rs 2000 per month to women, aged 18-60 in the state. The manifesto also promises to provide Rs 500 for Gas cylinders.

Just like the Lok Sabha elections, Congress has promised a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price for crops (MSP) and immediate compensation for crops. The Congress party said that they would form a farmer commission and give subsidies on diesel to farmers.

In its manifesto, the Congress promised to provide a plot of 200 yards of land and a house with two rooms to the poor section of the society in the state.

Another major highlight of the manifesto is the promise to conduct a caste-based survey in the state — an idea the Congress party has long been voicing for. Additionally, the party has said that it will increase the limit of the creamy layer to Rs 10 lakhs.

Congress has promised to give 2 lakhs permanent jobs to youths and promised to make the state free from drug-free.

In contrary to the Centre, the Congress has promised to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). To promote social justice, the party has promised to give Rs 6000 to senior citizens, handicapped and widows under Budhapa Pension, Divyang Pension and Vidhwa Pension respectively.

Congress leader Geeta Bhukkal said, “We talk about giving a safe Haryana in our manifesto. We will build a university in Kurukshetra in the name of Guru Govind Singh Ji. We will also work to give respect to Punjabi language. We will build a university in Mewat.”

At the launch event of the manifesto, Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the manifesto was created after a lot of hard work. He conveyed that a lot of things in the manifesto have been taken from Rajasthan and several other states.

Hooda said, “This manifesto has been made after a lot of hard works and I congratulate the chairperson of the manifesto Geeta Ji and all the members. We learnt a lot of things from Rajasthan when Ashok Gehlot was the Chief Minister. we have researched from all the states.”

Haryana goes to the polls on October 5 to elect a 90-member state legislative assembly to form its next government, with the counting set to take place on October 8.

In 2019, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 40 seats. Congress won 30 seats.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hisar:

Savitri Jindal, an independent candidate contesting from the Hisar Assembly seat in Haryana, released her “Sankalp Patra” on Sunday. In the Sankalp Patra, she expressed her commitment to the development of Hisar.

On the social media platform X, Ms Jindal wrote, “Today, I unveiled my manifesto for the development of Hisar with media colleagues. The dream that my father, OP Jindal, envisioned for Hisar will be realised over the next five years. We will first address the fundamental issues in Hisar, and then take the city to new heights of development.”

आज हिसार में मीडिया साथियों के साथ अपने हिसार के विकास को लेकर अपने संकल्प पत्र का विमोचन किया। हिसार को लेकर बाऊजी ओपी जिन्दल जी ने जो सपना देखा था अगले 5 साल में हम उन्हे जरूर पूरा करेंगे। पहले हिसार में मूलभूत समस्याओं का समाधान निकालेंगे फिर हमारे शहर को विकास की नई ऊंचाइयों… pic.twitter.com/3aGGkZiDSl

— Savitri Jindal (@SavitriJindal) September 22, 2024

Savitri Jindal, a former minister and one of the richest women in India, emphasised that her father’s vision must be fulfilled, starting with resolving the basic problems of Hisar before moving on to broader development initiatives.

During the launch of the Sankalp Patra, she was accompanied by Madhusudan Agarwal, MD and Vice Chairman of Ajanta Pharma; Mahendra Arya, former president of the All India Transport Association; and Krishna Gorakhpuriya, Chairman of Darsel. Jindal expressed her gratitude to everyone who attended the event.

In her Sankalp Patra, Savitri Jindal prioritised local development and basic amenities, stating that resolving fundamental issues would be her first task, followed by advancing Hisar’s growth.

It’s noteworthy that Savitri Jindal has previously served as a minister in the Haryana government and was a sitting MLA for the Hisar seat. She faced defeat in the 2014 assembly elections.

For the upcoming elections, the BJP has fielded Dr. Kamal Gupta, while the Congress has nominated Ramniwas Rada for the Hisar seat.

Savitri Jindal, who has previously won five out of six elections, wields considerable influence thanks to her family’s political legacy. Her decision to enter the race follows the denial of a BJP ticket to her, positioning her as a strong contender with a personal stake in reversing her 2014 defeat by Dr. Gupta. With a total of 21 candidates in the race, the main competition is primarily between Jindal, Rada, and Gupta.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The BJP on Thursday announced a star-studded list of 40 campaigners for the October 5 Assembly elections in Haryana, including heavyweights like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP President J.P. Nadda, and a bevy of senior leaders comprising Union Ministers, MPs, Chief Ministers and former CMs.

The BJP announced its list of 90 candidates for the Haryana polls in three parts, the last of which was issued on Wednesday night with Thursday being the last date for submission of nominations.

The campaigners’ list announced on Thursday includes the names of Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Manohar Lal Khattar (former Haryana Chief Minister), Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Piyush Goyal, among others.

The Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states who have been named in the list of campaigners are Nayab Singh Saini (Haryana), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Mohan Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Bhajan Lal Sharma (Rajasthan), and Pushkar Singh Dhami (Uttarakhand).

The list also includes the names of notable BJP leaders like Anurag Singh Thakur (Lok Sabha MP from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh), Hema Malini (LS MP from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh), Biplab Kumar Deb (Rajya Sabha MP and former Tripura CM), and Rao Inderjit Singh (Gurgaon MP and Union MoS), among other seasoned leaders.

An interesting name spotted in the list is that of wrestler-turned-politician Babita Phogat — the cousin sister of Vinesh Phogat who is contesting the Haryana Assembly polls on a Congress ticket from Julana.

Elections to the 90-member Haryana Assembly will be held on October 5. The ballots will be counted on October 8.

Here is the complete list of BJP campaigners for the Haryana polls:

1. Narendra Modi

2. J.P. Nadda

3. Rajnath Singh

4. Amit Shah

5. Nitin Gadkari

6. Nayab Singh Saini

7. Mohan Lal Badoli

8. Manohar Lal Khattar

9. Shivraj Singh Chouhan

10. Dharmendra Pradhan

11. Yogi Adityanath

12. Satish Poonia

13. Biplab Kumar Deb

14. Surendra Singh Nagar

15. Piyush Goyal

16. Arjun Ram Meghwal

17. Hardeep Singh Puri

18. Sudha Yadav

19. Bhajan Lal Sharma

20. Mohan Yadav

21. Pushkar Singh Dhami

22. Himanta Biswa Sarma

23. Rao Inderjit Singh

24. Krishan Pal Gurjar

25. Vasundhara Raje Scindia

26. Smriti Z. Irani

27. Jairam Thakur

28. Ravneet Singh Bittu

29. Anurag Thakur

30. Diya Kumari

31. Hema Malini

32. Kiran Choudhry

33. Naveen Jindal

34. Dharambir Singh

35. Ashok Tanwar

36. Manoj Tiwari

37. Sanjeev Balyan

38. Kuldeep Bishnoi

39. Ram Chander Jangra

40. Babita Phogat
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:

The ruling BJP late Wednesday released its third and final list of candidates for the Haryana polls as it denied ticket to its senior leader Ram Bilas Sharma from Mahendragarh.

According to the party list, BJP has fielded Kanwar Singh Yadav from Mahendragarh, even as Sharma, sensing that the party may deny him a ticket, filed his nomination papers from the constituency earlier in the day.

From Sirsa, the party has fielded Rohtash Jangra while from Faridabad NIT, the BJP has named Satish Fagna as its candidate.

Sirsa is currently represented by BJP’s ally Gopal Kanda, who heads the Haryana Lokhit Party.

With this, the BJP has named candidates for all the 90 assembly seats.

Mr Sharma is a prominent Brahmin face of the party, who was also a Minister in the government headed by M L Khattar between 2014 and 2019. However, Mr Sharma lost the 2019 Assembly polls. He has also served as the BJP’s Haryana unit president.

The BJP has denied tickets to a few of its sitting MLAs, including a couple of ministers.

Amid deepening schisms within the ruling BJP in Haryana over poll ticket distribution, party leader Karan Dev Kamboj on Wednesday indicated that the rebellion could have been prevented if Chief Minister Nayab Saini had a “say” in the allocation process.

The BJP on Tuesday released its second list of candidates for the polls, denying tickets to two ministers and replacing its nominee for the Pehowa seat.

In its first list of candidates announced on September 4, the BJP nominated Kamaljeet Singh Ajrana for the Pehowa seat but replaced him with Jai Bhagwan Sharma in the second list.

Incumbent MLA of Pehowa and former minister Sandeep Singh has been denied re-nomination.

The BJP also denied a ticket to Minister Banwari Lal, who represented Bawal in the outgoing Assembly, and fielded Krishna Kumar in his place.

School Education Minister Seema Trikha, the incumbent MLA of Badhkal, too was denied re-nomination. Dhanesh Adlakha has been nominated for the seat.

The BJP released its first list of 67 candidates for the 90-member Assembly on September 4, fielding Haryana chief minister Saini from the Ladwa seat and rewarding several recent entrants to the party with poll tickets.

Shruti Choudhry, the grand-daughter of former chief minister Bansi Lal, who joined the ruling party recently, is contesting from the Tosham.

After the BJP announced its first list of 67 candidates, it faced rebellion within its ranks with Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala and MLA Lakshman Dass Napa quitting the party after being denied a ticket.

A few other aspirants who were also denied tickets had raised a banner of revolt. The BJP is aiming for a hattrick in the Haryana Assembly polls to be held on October 5 but faces a tough challenge from a resurgent Congress which is looking to cash in on the anti-incumbency factor.

Mr  Saini is the BJP’s chief ministerial face for the assembly polls. The counting of votes will take place on October 8. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday announced 40-star campaigners for Haryana Assembly Elections.

The list includes the names of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Delhi Ministers Atishi, and Saurabh Bharadwaj, and AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia.

Meanwhile, AAP on Wednesday also released its fourth list of 21 candidates for the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections. AAP has so far declared 61 candidates for the 90-member assembly.

Among the candidates announced on Wednesday are Raj Kaur Gill from Ambala Cantonment, Lalit Tyagi from Yamunanagar, Joga Singh from Ladwa, Satbir Goyat from Kithal, Sunil Bindal from Karnal, and Sukhbir Malik from Painpat Rural.

The other names in the list include Saroj Bala Rathi from Ganaur, Devender Gautam from Sonipat, Shiv Kumar Rangeela from Gohana, Sandeep Malik from Baroda, Kavita Dalal from Julana, Nisha Deshwal from Safidon, Sukhwinder Singh Gill from Tohana, Jasdev Nikka from Kalanwali, Sham Mehta from Sirsa, Narender Uklana from Uklana, Rajiv Pali from Narnaund, Rajender Sorkhi from Hansi.

Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia participated in the nomination rally of the party’s state vice president and candidate from Kalayat seat, Anurag Dhanda and exuded confidence in the party’s victory in the upcoming elections.

“I have come for the nomination filing of Anurag Dhanda. He has been my friend, a journalist and a senior leader of Haryana AAP. People are upset with the 10-year rule of BJP in Haryana and they want to free Haryana from the BJP. AAP will form the government here and work will be done on the guarantee of Arvind Kejriwal,” Mr Sisodia said.

“Our main fight is with corruption, with anti-school politics, with anti-hospital politics, with politics that took away job opportunities,” he added.

There was seat-sharing talks betwen AAP and Congress but they failed. The last date for filing nominations is September 12.
Voting for the 90-member legislative assembly in Haryana will be held on October 5. Votes will be counted on October 8 along with that in Jammu and Kashmir.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Charkhi Dadri (Haryana):

Wrestler-turned-politician Babita Phogat has for the first time responded to her cousin Vinesh Phogat’s decision to join Congress, days ahead of the October 5 Assembly elections in Haryana.

Soon after her induction into the party on September 6, the Congress fielded Vinesh Phogat (30) from the Julana Assembly segment for the upcoming elections in Haryana.

Stating that Vinesh’s decision is her own, and everyone has their own perspectives and ideologies, Babita on Tuesday emphasised that the political arena is open to everyone, and anyone can participate in politics.

Earlier, Babita’s father and veteran wrestling coach Mahavir Phogat had suggested that Vinesh should participate in the 2028 Olympic Games to be held in Los Angeles.

“My papa is Vinesh’s mentor. Vinesh should have heeded her mentor’s advice. A mentor always aims to guide their disciples correctly by providing good training. A mentor never wants their disciples to stray from their path. If a disciple deviates, it is the mentor’s duty to set them back on the right path,” said Babita, who clinched the gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in the 55 kg category.

She also said that Vinesh Phogat made a ‘hasty’ decision as she had a good chance of winning a gold medal in the 2028 Olympics.

Regarding her own ticket for the upcoming Assembly elections, Babita Phogat said, “I have no regret about not receiving a ticket. I work for the BJP’s lotus symbol. I believe that whoever gets the lotus symbol, we will work with them, put in efforts, and make sure the lotus blooms. Looking at the current enthusiasm, I can confidently say that we will win the Charkhi Dadri Assembly seat.”

Stating that the BJP has carefully chosen Sunil Sangwan as its candidate from Charkhi Dadri, Babita said, “I stand by the party’s decision. The BJP will form the government in Haryana for the third time. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, the government will be formed with a clear majority.”

On veteran Congress leader and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, she said, “He has succeeded in creating rifts within the Phogat family. The public will teach him a lesson; he is merely engaging in politics. Divide and rule has always been Congress’ policy. Congress leaders have historically engaged in dividing both the nation and families. In contrast, Prime Minister Narendra Modi works to unite families and the country. The BJP practises ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’.”
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:

JJP leader and former Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala on Thursday filed his nomination for the October 5 polls from the Uchana Kalan seat in Jind district.

Dushyant Chautala (36), who is seeking re-election from the seat, was accompanied by his mother and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) MLA Naina Chautala as he filed his nomination on the first day of filing the papers.

In the 2019 elections, Dushyant Chautala defeated Prem Lata, the wife of veteran leader Birender Singh, who was with the BJP at that time.

Ex-Union minister Birender Singh, and his son Brijendra Singh — a former Hisar MP — are now with the Congress.

Meanwhile, JJP chief Ajay Singh Chautala, when asked how many seats his party would win, told reporters, “In a democracy, this right lies with the voters…” Responding to questions about the JJP’s strategy for the polls, the former MP said, “The kind of situation prevailing in the state, no party will get a clear majority. Tie-ups will be needed to form the next government.” Asked if his party would once again emerge as a “kingmaker” after the polls, like in 2019, the JJP chief said, “Definitely.” The JJP and the Chandra Shekhar Azad-led Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) recently announced an alliance for the Haryana assembly polls. The JJP will contest 70 of the 90 seats while the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) will contest the remainder.

Haryana goes to the polls on October 5 and the votes will be counted on October 8.

The last date to file nominations is September 12, with the papers being scrutinised on September 13. Nominations can be withdrawn till September 16.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)