Jat leaders, Bhojpuri and Bollywood stars dominate BJP's campaigners list for Haryana

The BJP has calibrated its campaign in Haryana with caste, state loyalties and the dazzle of showbiz in mind, placing prominent Jat leaders from other parts of the country in areas dominated by their caste and using Bhojpuri stars in urban centres with sizable immigrant populations.

Heading the list of 40 star campaigners for Haryana, where the BJP hopes to return to power, are Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP working president J P Nadda, party sources said.

The maximum number of leaders in the list are Jats, they said.

But there are other considerations too.

While Union minister Sanjeev Balyan, a Jat leader from Uttar Pradesh, for instance, has been asked to stay on in Haryana till the elections are over, the party has also roped in film stars like its MPs Ravi Kishan and Manoj Tiwari for urban areas with Bhojpuri speaking people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, party insiders said.

Balyan won the Lok Sabha elections from ?Muzaffarnagar by defeating prominent Jat leader and RLD supremo Ajit Singh,