Bhopal
Chaudhary Devi Lal was at the forefront of the statehood movement in the 1960s, the leader was also instrumental in establishing Jat dominance over politics in Haryana.
For decades the inherently aggressive Jats controlled politics in the state as the community held 24 to 30 percent of the vote and is the absolute deciding factor on about 35 seats in the Vidhan Sabha.
Despite the numbers the Jats were beginning to feel left out under the ruling-BJP in the state and many believed that the 2024 elections would see the return of Jat hegemony over the state.
The Congress banked heavily on the sentiment in the community and practically passed on the campaign command to former chief minister and prominent Jat leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Kumari Selja, a long time Gandhi family loyalist and a Dalit by caste, was unceremoniously sidelined by the party leadership as it desperately counted on Hooda to provide a victory in the first Vidhan Sabha season after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Now, election results coming in from the 90 assembly segments in the state prove that the Congress ploy has only worked partially as the party was left with little more the Jat vote that it had sought from Hooda.
The depth of the campaign run by Hooda among Jats may be gauged by the fact that Chaudhary Devi Lal’s grandson Abhay Chautala is trailing in the family borough of Ellenabad.
While it may still be too early to jump to conclusions, but primary trends picked up from the results suggest that a majority of voters in Haryana have vetoed prospects of Jat hegemony over them.
