The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) scrambled on Friday to contain the unrest among its ranks in Haryana after the party’s first list of 67 candidates for the upcoming assembly polls triggered dissent, even as fresh protests broke out in key seats.
Senior leaders met some of the rebels and convinced them to stand down. The development came a day after 12 senior BJP leaders, including a cabinet minister, one MLA and six former MLAs, resigned from the party. In its first list, the BJP changed 40 candidates.
The list of people who resigned included sitting minister Ranjit Singh Chautala, other backward classes unit chief Karan Dev Kamboj, Ratia lawmaker Laxman Dass Napa, and farmer unit chief Sukhvinder Sheoran.
Napa joined the Congress late on Thursday.
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On Friday, Kamboj said chief minister Nayab Singh Saini met him. “He came to meet me at my residence on Thursday and said he has spoken to the party high command, after which I’ve been called to Delhi for a meeting,” Kamboj said.
BJP functionaries aware of the details said former minister Savitri Jindal, mother of Kurukshetra BJP lawmaker Naveen Jindal, was also called to Delhi.
Her supporters had urged her to contest as an independent after the BJP retained state health minister Kamal Gupta as its candidate from the high-profile seat. Savitri and her son, Naveen, joined the BJP in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. She was seeking a BJP ticket from Hisar but the party did not consider her.
The BJP also summoned Sirsa MLA Gopal Kanda of Haryana Lokhit Party to Delhi, said BJP functionaries. They also said a series of damage control measures would be implemented to placate dissidents.
“The rebels were assured positions in the future within the organisation to pacify them,” said a BJP leader, adding that district-level leaders were mobilised to calm supporters of the rebel leaders.
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“Due to the steps taken, tension appears to have been reduced. However, we are monitoring developments in key constituencies to ensure the rebellion doesn’t escalate further,” the BJP leader quoted above said.
But the party was rocked by fresh protests.
Party workers held demonstrations against Rewari nominee Laxman Yadav, a sitting MLA who was shifted from Kosli. Former MLA Randhir Kapdiwas and Arvind Yadav were hoping for a ticket and the duo held meetings in Rewari.
Another prominent rebel and former state minister Ranjit Singh Chautala said the party contacted him to convey that it would field him from another seat (Dabwali), after denying him a ticket from his stronghold of Rania.
“I refused the offer and after that no one from the BJP has reached out to me. I am in my constituency and set to contest as an independent again,” Chautala told HT over the phone.
In the 2019 assembly elections, Chautala contested as an independent candidate after the Congress denied him the ticket. He defeated Haryana Lokhit Party candidate Gobind Kanda. Later, he became a cabinet minister in the BJP government.
The BJP’s 2019 unsuccessful nominee from Dabwali, Aditya Devilal, met Indian National Lok Dal founder OP Chautala.
Former Bahadurgarh MLA Naresh Kaushik, who unsuccessfully contested the 2019 assembly elections, attacked his younger brother Dinesh Kaushik, who was given the ticket.
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In Karnal, two-time mayor Renu Bala Gupta said the party is “cheating” on her. The BJP fielded Jagmohan Anand, former media co-ordinator to former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, from Karnal.
“I’ve been betrayed. The ticket allocation for Karnal has not been done on merit. My supporters have been visiting my residence, expressing their willingness to stand by me,” Gupta said in a social media post.
She called a meeting of her supporters on September 8.
Saini, meanwhile, told reporters in Rohkak that the party has given tickets to all potential candidates. “The candidates will not be changed and the next list will be announced soon,” he said.
The BJP faces anti-incumbency after being in power for 10 years and issues related to caste, reservation and complaints of governance deficit have emerged as challenges for the party. Fielding fresh candidates is seen as an effort to blunt anti-incumbency.
