Bishnoi is savvy, conscientious and energetic but needs to learn the intricacies of the state’s political labyrinths
NOVEMBER 2007 turned out to be crunch time for former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal. Predictably, his revolt against the Congress party was followed by the launch of a new political outfit – the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL). And, in coincidentally apt symbolism, the new party chose a rising sun as its symbol while the Haryana veteran declared son Kuldeep Bishnoi, MP from Bhiwani, his political heir by handing him the reins of the HJC. His elder son, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Chandra Mohan, the MLA from Kalka, is perhaps waiting in the wings to jump aboard the family bandwagon.
Intra party revolt is not a new phenomenon in Haryana politics. Dissidents dot the political landscape of the state. Tau Devi Lal turned political somersaults umpteen times against the Janata Party and Lok Dal of Charan Singh. Bansi Lal formed the Haryana Vikas Party. But Bhajan Lal pioneered Aya Ram Gaya Ram politics in the country when he shepherded the entire Congress Legislative Party into the Janata Party in 1978 to become Chief Minister.
In 2005,as state chief of the Congress, Bhajan Lal was the architect of the party’s victory in the Assembly polls. And the seeds of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) were sown on March 5 that year when the Congress high command nominated Bhupinder Singh Hooda to head the government, ignoring Bhajan Lal’s claim. With two years lapsing and the next Assembly elections nearing, he perhaps thought it fit to severe links with the Congress and prepare for the elections.
Haryana, a state of 90 Assembly seats and 2 crore 10 lakh people populating an area of 44,212 sq km, is the country’s fastest developing state. It has the added advantage of being the gateway to Delhi. Faridabad, Gurgaon, Rewari, Mahendragarh, Rohtak, Sonepat and Panipat are witnessing an unprecedented property boom with the steepest land prices as a result of proximity to the capital. Real estate sharks are out to grab land by any means, and the support of bureaucrats and politicians is there for the asking.The casualty of this property boom is the farmer and so any people’s movement that raises this issue is bound to find favour with the masses.
Bhajan Lal and his sons have waited patiently for an honourable rehabilitation of the veteran politician by the Congress leadership. Bishnoi was close to the Congress president’s son in law, Robert Vadra. He hoped that Priyanka, Rahul and Robert would heal his father’s wounds but this was not to be in the face of stiff resistance from the coterie surrounding Sonia Gandhi. Bhajan Lal was never allowed to meet her. He had been one of PV Narasimha Rao’s most trusted colleagues and political operators and had contributed a great deal to making the minority government last a full term. This was enough reason for Sonia Gandhi to nurse a dislike for him, which the coterie kept stoking.
He has to ensure brother Chandra Mohan quits the government and joins the family battle against the Congress. The sooner, the better. The masses will certainly not let the Bhajan Lal family enjoy the best of both worlds – the government and the opposition
Finally, the issue became one of political survival for the family whether to take it lying down or quit. Also, every politician worth his salt knows that supporters need to be busied with political assignments constructive or otherwise to preempt change of allegiance. And so, immediately after the last Assembly polls Bhajan Lal and Bishnoi started meeting Congress workers and leaders at district headquarters to consolidate their political base.
Haryana’s Congress government has completed two years in power and, typically, resentment is building against it. The time was ripe and, on December 2, the father son duo thundered against the Congress leadership in an impressive public rally at Rohtak, the Jat hinterland and Hooda’s home town. Bishnoi is considered an apt choice to carry on his father’s political legacy. However, he has to emerge from his gilded cage to mine the earth. He is up against the power of the state and also the politically ambitious sons of Haryana politicians in grey suits. The Hooda government will go to any extent to nip the challenge in the bud but Bishnoi’s real threat is from the second generation brigade. And, in the neck to neck race for power, only a carefully charted strategy can lend him the winning edge.
His main rivals are the so called modern day Young Turks, comprising four sons and a daughter in law of Haryana politicians. Ajay Chautala and Abhay Chautala, sons of Om Prakash Chautala and grandsons of Devi Lal, are the leaders of the Haryana Lok Dal. Control of the party vests in them, and not their father. Dipender Singh Hooda is not only the Chief Minister’s son but also the sitting MP from the Jat belt of Rohtak. Randeep Singh Surjewala, son of Congress leader Shamsher Singh Surjewala, is a Minister in the Hooda government and believed to be the blue eyed boy of 10 Janpath. Kiran Chaudhary, widow of Bansi Lal’s son, Surender Singh, is also a Minister and belongs to Bishnoi’s Parliamentary constituency of Bhiwani.
The Bhajan Lal scion has a long way to go to sustain his political struggle and wrest power in the 2010 Assembly polls. The impressive Rohtak rally saw him spewing fire against the Congress, Hooda and Sonia Gandhi. However, he failed to touch the basic problems of the masses or identify a clear agenda for the state’s development. Haryana’s biggest challenge is protecting its land, villages and culture from the land mafia, businessmen and politicians. The rehabilitation package for those whose lands have been acquired and given to Mukesh Ambani needs to be spelt out clearly. Protection of their rights after acquisition is another issue that can mobilize farmers. The HJC cannot cut ice with voters by just adopting an anti Congress stand. It has to prepare for a long drawn political battle by coming up with a plausible development agenda for the state.
Haryana’s youngest politician, Bishnoi is a dynamic cyber age MP who is articulate and a go getter. Before joining politics, he looked after the family’s business empire. He is a man of commitment and values his friends. Fortunately, he faces the soft spoken Hooda and not a vindictive Om Prakash Chautala or stubborn Bansi Lal. Hooda, seen as a non performing Chief Minister, is not a man of the masses and is tied to the apron strings of the Congress president.
The HJC is sure to weaken the Congress, but will it strengthen Bishnoi? Chances are that Om Prakash Chautala might benefit after the exit of the father son duo from the Congress and thus pose a bigger challenge to the fledgling party. If this happens, Bishnoi will have to open many fronts to muster more votes and consolidate the existing base. But Bishnoi’s exit will also affect the Congress. He and the party share the same base – along the Grand Trunk Road – from where the Congress has been winning the most Assembly seats. Hooda is lacking in efficient administration and has failed to bring about development and Bishnoi can take on the mantle of being Haryana’s new hope, provided he can carry his political fight to its logical conclusion. For this, he has to ensure that elder brother Chandra Mohan quits the government and joins the family battle against the Congress. The sooner this happens, the better. The masses will certainly not let the Bhajan Lal family enjoy the best of both worlds – the government and the opposition.
Editor, gfiles
