Regional satraps stare at irrelevance as Jats veer towards BJP

It may be just a loudspeaker that has put Moradabad district administration on high alert, but if the high decibel political drama around it continues, it might leave some of the established regional satraps of the Jat community in the mute mode for a long time. Even as the Mahapanchayat issue rages in Western Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad district, it also signals the changing political equations within the dominant Jat community. The cascading effect of Western UP is not limited to UP alone as its effect can be felt in the neighbouring state of Haryana as well. Till a few months ago, Chaudhary Ajit Singh was considered the undisputed leader of the Jat community — mostly found around Delhi/NCR — in Uttar Pradesh. But the general elections delivered a sledgehammer blow to his personal reputation and his party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal. Singh couldn’t even retain Baghpat constituency, as seat represented by his father and former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh. The only time their family did not hold this seat since 1977 was in 1998. Ajit Singh lost to recent entrant in politics and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh. In fact, he finished a poor third as Samajwadi Party candidate Gul Mohammad finished second. His son Jayant, too, lost from Mathura to BJP candidate and former Bollywood superstar Hema Malini. [caption id=“attachment_1609313” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] There are clear indications that the Jat community is moving towards the BJP and the communal flare-ups have become, by default or design, a tactical gameplan. The new generation of Jats is not bound to the existing leaders by ties of loyalty. If in states like UP it means leaders like Ajit Singh losing relevance, in neighbouring Haryana, too, it is no different. Sensing the mood in the community, the BJP is planning to play the Jat card well in Haryana which goes to polls in September. It has already tested success in the general elections by pushing credible faces from the community forward. The perfect example of this was the case of former Union minister in UPA-1, Rao Inderjit Singh. He moved to BJP before the elections and swept the Gurgaon seat by almost three lakh votes. It goes to show people are willing to vote for BJP, and that happened even in the Jat dominated seat of Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, where sitting state minister Kiran Choudhry’s daughter lost to another Congressman, who switched to BJP just weeks before the election. While Congress was hopeful of retaining the seat due to the loyalty factor of Jats, Dharambir Singh’s win over Shruti Choudhry is an indication of the willingness of Jats to move beyond just that. Despite having tall leaders like Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Rohtak), Chaudhary Birendra Singh (Jind), Randeep Surjewala (Narnaul) and Shruti Choudhary (Bhiwani), the party remains deeply divided. No wonder all of Hooda’s detractors have been demanding his removal before elections, but the high command is in no mood. Senior leaders realise that changing a CM at this juncture will send the wrong signal, especially among the single largest Jat community in the state. Almost 50% of the Congress MLA’s in the assembly are Jats. OP Chautala’s INLD is also looking for acceptability of his younger son Abhay within the community. The BJP is hoping to push second rung Jat leaders like Captain Abhimanyu and Krishna Gahlawat into the electoral fray to create the confusion in the minds of the voters. All they lack is a big name from the Jat ranks. If reports are to be believed, the BJP is waiting for infighting to become more extreme within the Congress, and could then approach Chaudhary Birendra Singh to join their camp. This will give the BJP that extra edge that it has been lacking, as the party has predominantly had more of non Jat votes flocking to it till now. The Congress realises this better than others, and is working overtime on a consensus formula acceptable to all factions because the Jat vote can no longer be taken for granted by the same old faces of the past two decades.