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Haryana poll verdict: Region-wise results & how BJP overcame caste barriers

The argument that Jat vs non-Jat was a dominant factor in elections doesn't hold ground when one looks at the caste arithmetics of the Haryana poll verdict

Modi, Narendra Modi, Nayab Singh

BJP has scripted history in Haryana by winning the elections with a clear mandate after completing two full terms. (Photo: PTI)

Kshitiz Bhardwaj New Delhi

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Defying the predictions of almost all exit polls, BJP has scripted history in Haryana by winning the elections with a clear mandate after completing two full terms. The party won 48 seats, breaking its own record of 47 seats in 2014, and 40 in 2019.

The region-wise breakup of the results presents a better picture of how the BJP, through its precise election management, social engineering and poll rhetoric, won a clear mandate in the agrarian state.



Political analysts divide Haryana into different belts to study electoral behaviour. It is said that caste arithmetic, rural-urban divide and some historical, geographical factors also shape the voting pattern of each region.
 

GT Road belt: It includes six districts of Haryana that touch the highway from Delhi to Chandigarh: Panchkula, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Yamunanagar, Karnal, and Ambala. The region comprises 23 Assembly seats, and is considered a BJP stronghold. It has increased its seats from 12 in 2019 to 14 in 2024, but still short of 21 in 2014. The region also includes the prestigious Ladwa seat, from where CM Nayab Singh Saini has won handsomely (margin of 16,054 votes).

Bagar/Bagad belt: The name of the belt is derived from the ‘Bagri/Bagdi’ dialect, which is often spoken in the region touching parts of Rajasthan and Punjab. There are 21 Assembly seats in five districts in this segment, including Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri. The region, dominated by Jat voters, had once been the bastion of three Lals of Haryana – Devi Lal, Bansi Lal and Bhajan Lal. BJP has repeated its performance by winning eight seats in the region.

Deshwal belt: It includes 14 Assembly seats in three districts – Rohtak, Sonipat and Jhajjar. The region, with a majority of Jat voters, is seen as a stronghold of Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Here BJP has improved its tally from two to four seats this time.

Ahirwal belt: This region, dominated by Ahir (Yadav) voters comprise 11 Assembly seats of three districts - Rewari, Mahendragarh and Gurugram. In recent times this region has stood behind the BJP like a rockwall, where the party won 10 seats this time.

Bangar belt: Nine Assembly seats of two districts - Kaithal and Jind, lie in this region. The majority of the occupation here is farming, because of the high groundwater level. BJP has improved its tally to 5 this time, from 3 in 2019 and 2 in 2014.

Brij belt: Here the Brij dialect is dominant. Nine Assembly seats of two districts connected with Uttar Pradesh - Palwal and Faridabad come in this region. This segment comprises a large number of Gurjar voters. BJP has replicated its performance of 2019, by winning seven seats this time too.

Mewat belt: With a 70 per cent population of Muslims, this region has keys to three Assembly seats. BJP like in 2014 and 2019 has drawn a blank from here.

(Note: Seats mentioned in the above belts may not match with the seat distribution in Lok Sabha. For example, in the Bhiwani Mahendragarh Lok Sabha, some Assembly constituencies come in Bagar/ Bagad belt, others in Ahirwal belt.)

Was Jat, non-Jat a factor?

There were 14 Assembly seats where both the BJP and Congress had fielded Jat candidates- Kalayat, Panipat Rural, Narnaund, Garhi-Sanpla-Kiloi, Loharu, Bhadra, Dadri, Tosham, Meham, Rai, Baroda, Tohana, Nalwa and Beri.

Out of these 14, BJP won six seats, and lost one seat, Loharu, by a margin of only 792 votes.

Other than this, there were 15 seats where a Jat was pitched against the non-Jat of others, between the BJP and Congress. Here, the Congress, in alliance with CPI(M) won seven seats, while BJP bagged six seats.

And as experts point out the BJP this time has won 22 new seats. Seven of these lie in Jat-dominated Bagar/Bagad and Deshwal belt. So the argument that Jat vs non-Jat was a dominant factor in elections doesn’t hold ground when one looks at the caste arithmetic of Haryana poll verdict.

 

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First Published: Oct 09 2024 | 10:31 AM IST

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