Caste constituency

Hooda is the Jat face of the Congress and leading the party’s campaign.

Mukesh Bhardwaj explains why everyone in Haryana is wooing the Jats

Haryana’s electorate comprises a number of communities but it has always been the Jats who have held the key to elections. Numbering 25 per cent overall, and between 30 and 50 per cent in six of the state’s 10 Lok Sabha constituencies, they can potentially sway the result in 40 of the 90 assembly constituencies. Dalits are the second highest population but their 21 per cent are spread out, leaving them with only a few pockets of concentration in a couple of Lok Sabha constituencies. The remaining half of the population comprises a large number of smaller groups. These include the Banias, who form four per cent and are being wooed by the fledgling Haryana Lokhit Party of Bania leader Gopal Kanda.

Jats
25%They count between a third and half in the Lok Sabha constituencies of Rohtak, Sonepat, Faridabad, Sirsa, Bhiwani-Mahendergarh and Hisar. In Chief Minister B S Hooda’s constituency of Kiloi Garhi Sampla, they are nearly 50 per cent.

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Jat leaders head the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the community has traditionally been loyal to them. Hooda is the Jat face of the Congress and leading the party’s campaign. The INLD’s Om Prakash Chautala is known as a Jat heavyweight, while his son Abhay is leading the campaign. Other major parties have a Jat leader on their second rung. The Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) has a very prominent Jat face in Dharam Pal Malik, who was close to the late Bhajan Lal. The BJP’s long-time Jat faces, Om Prakash Dhankar and Captain Abhimanyu, are rivals who have never won an election, but the party has also roped in Birender Singh.

Every chief minister after Bhajan Lal has been a Jat. He was ousted in 1996 by Bansi Lal who had left the Congress, formed the Haryana Vikas Party and tied up with the BJP. Chautala was next, from 1999 to 2005, after which Hooda took over and has continued since.

Dalits
21%The large chunk thinly spread out, their pockets of influence are limited to parts of the reserved Lok Sabha constituencies of Sirsa and Ambala. The Congress has lost both constituencies, Sirsa to the INLD and Ambala to the BJP. The Congress’s Dalit faces are state unit chief Ashok Tanwar, who lost in Sirsa, and Rajya Sabha MP Kumari Selja, who chose not to contest from Ambala.

Other groups
8%Brahmins form the third largest group alongside the Punjabis, who too are nearly eight per cent. When they vote together, they are a potential game-changer in seats within Karnal Lok Sabha constituency. Sonepat and Hisar too have a significant Brahmin population. The BJP is headed by Ram Bilas Sharma and the BSP by Arvind Sharma, both Brahmins. Venod Sharma, who has quit the Congress to form the Haryana Jan Chetna Party, too is a Brahmin.

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5% Ahirs are concentrated largely in about eight assembly seats in Gurgaon. Here, parties make it a point to field only Ahir candidates. However, support from the Ahirs need to be backed up by that of Meo Muslims, who form four per cent. Counted together, these two communities can influence up to a dozen seats.

4%Sikhs can influence the result in over a dozen constituencies Ambala, Kurukshetra and Sirsa districts. It is to woo them that Hooda has set up a Gurdwara Management Committee. The friendship between Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the Chautalas, meanwhile, can potentially tap these votes in favour of the INLD.

Also: 4% Bania, 3.5% Rajput, 3.5% Gurjjar, 3% Saini, 2.5% Kumhar, 2% Khatri. Bishnois make up 0.7%.