In Haryana, the BJP has played the backward (backward class) and non-Jat cards together. BJP has made MP Naib Singh Saini the state president in place of Omprakash Dhankhar. Dhankhar has been made the National Secretary. With this change, BJP has tried to convey a message to non-Jats as well. However, the regional and caste balance is also somewhat skewed. In Haryana, the GT Road belt now has representation in both the chief posts of Chief Minister and State President. Manohar Lal Khattar is MLA from Karnal and Saini is MP from Kurukshetra. The BJP, which came to power for the first time with an absolute majority in 2014, has so far tried to maintain a balance between Jats and non-Jats. Prof. Ram Bilas Sharma was the state president till the 2014 assembly elections. Under his leadership, BJP won 47 seats. After Sharma became a minister, the then MLA of Tohana, Subhash Barala, was made the state president. In 2019, under the leadership of Barala, the BJP won all 10 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, but Barala himself lost the assembly elections. Also the party was far from the majority. In July-2020 Omprakash Dhankhar was made the state president. He is considered to be the most active. Sources say that the new change has been made keeping in mind the equations of the upcoming Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupendra Singh Hooda is also very active. He will also start ‘Janakrosh’ rallies from Radaur Constituency on November 1. Hooda is considered the most influential among the Jats. At present, a large section of Jats is also considered to be angry with the BJP. However, by appointing Dhankhar as National Secretary, the party has tried to woo this section to some extent. The recent political developments of the BJP have increased the political stature of Chief Minister Manohar Lal. They have managed to convey the message that they have a strong grip on the central leadership.
Naib Singh Saini became MLA from Narayangarh constituency for the first time in 2014. At that time he was made the Minister of State in the Khattar cabinet. Many years before Manohar Lal became the Chief Minister, Saini was close to Khattar. He is counted among the ‘gods’ of the Chief Minister. When Subhash Barala was to be replaced, an attempt was made to make Naib Singh Saini the state president. Well, the current change is also being linked to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week.
Free hand means according to Manohar’s will.
This change has made it clear that at present Manohar Lal Khattar has a ‘free-hand’ from the central leadership. The party high command has indicated several times that the upcoming elections will be fought under the leadership of Manohar Lal. Manohar Lal’s close friendship with PM Narendra Modi is also not hidden from anyone. This time again Khattar has felt his strong hold on the leadership.
This is also the main reason for change
BJP has done the job of representing the three major OBC castes. Rao Inderjit Singh from Yadav Kote and Krishnapal Gurjar representing Gurjar are Ministers at the Centre. Now the party has played the big OBC card by making Naib Singh Saini of the Saini community as the state president. The vote bank of backward classes in the state including BCA and BCB is considered to be more than 30 percent. Ever since Modi became the Prime Minister, the backward classes have joined the BJP. In the Khattar cabinet, School Education Minister Kanwarpal Gurjar and former MP Dr Sudha Yadav are representing backward classes as members of the Central Election Committee.
