Dushyant’s decline and Arjun Chautala’s ascent: The changing face of Jat politics in Haryana

Chandigarh, Oct 8 (IANS) The political landscape of Haryana dominated significantly by the Jat community has witnessed a drastic change in the last one decade, ever since the BJP came to power in 2014, and continued its winning streak in 2024 as indicated by the results announced on Tuesday for the October 5 Assembly elections. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and its breakaway faction Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which played the kingmaker in the 2019 assembly poll, have been decimated this time.

Jats, who constitute about 27 per cent of the electorate and once the traditional vote base of Haryana’s regional parties, seemed to have made a sway — a shift that proved detrimental for INLD and JJP. While the results came as a massive setback for Dushyant Chautala, the youngest scion Arjun Chautala, however, managed to defeat Independent candidate and sitting legislator Ranjit Singh — an outcome from which the party might hope that all is not lost yet.

Both patriarch-dominated regional parties lost their grip, concentrated largely in rural areas, with their top leaders Abhay Singh Chautala of the INLD and his nephew Duhsyant Chautala of the JJP biting the dust.

They are from the legacy of former Deputy Prime Minister and the state’s tallest Jat leader, Chaudhary Devi Lal who, with his family ruled the state’s dusty and defection-ridden politics for decades.

Abhay Chautala was defeated from his stronghold Ellenabad by Congress nominee Bharat Singh Beniwal. JJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala faced a major defeat from the Jat-dominated Uchana Kalan constituency, finishing sixth. BJP’s Devender Attri defeated Congress’ Brijendra Singh from Uchana Kalan seat in Jind.

However, outgoing legislator Abhay Chautala had won the Ellenabad seat four times since 2010 and his grandfather, Devi Lal, served as the deputy prime minister.

Interestingly, the JJP, which was at the helm with the outgoing BJP government led by Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for four and a half years, has struggled to secure any seat or build a significant vote base across Haryana, marking a tough setback.

However, INLD’s youngest scion Arjun Chautala defeated Independent candidate and sitting legislator Ranjit Singh with 6,507 votes from Rania.

The INLD partnered with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), while its breakaway faction JJP, which had an alliance with the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), promised to launch the Jannayak Fasal Suraksha Bima Yojana for the prosperity of farmers, if the combine forms the government.

Eyeing the Dalit voters, who constitute 21 per cent of the state’s population, the JJP contested on 70 seats, while the Azad Samaj Party fielded candidates in the remaining 20 seats.

Interestingly, the INLD stitched an alliance with the BSP to woo the Dalits with leaders of both parties agreeing to project Abhay Chautala as the Chief Minister’s face. As per the alliance, the INLD contested 53 seats, while the BSP fielded candidates on 37 seats.

At the launch of the JJP-Azad Samaj Party alliance, both Dushyant Chautala and Chandra Shekhar, who are both 36 years old, had promised to fight for the rights and welfare of the farmers and to form a “government of the youth”.

Dushyant Chautala’s brother, Digvijaya Singh Chautala, faced defeat from Sirsa’s Dabwali constituency, while Sunaina Chautala of the INLD lost from Fatehabad.

After the feud within the INLD, five-time Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala’s grandson Dushyant split the party vertically in 2018 and formed the JJP.

INLD’s breakaway faction, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), led by Dushyant Chautala, who in 2014 was the county’s youngest MP at the age of 26 and was the Deputy Chief Minister in the state government led by Manohar Lal Khattar, is in an alliance with the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), while the INLD has tied up with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

During the campaigning, the INLD was banking on its performance from March 2000 to March 2005, the longest term of Om Prakash Chautala. After that, the party emerged the principal opposition party in 2014 polls with 19 legislators. In the outgoing Assembly, the party has a lone legislator, Abhay Chautala.

The BJP’s vote share in the October 2019 Assembly election was 36.49 per cent when the party could not cross the halfway mark in the 90-member Assembly and stitched a post-poll alliance with the JJP.

The Congress registered over 15 per cent rise in its vote share in 2024 in comparison to the 2019 parliamentary election vote share.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)

–IANS

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