CHANDIGARH: The Deswali belt in politically-significant Haryana is key for parties in what is going to be a multi-corner contest in the Lok Sabha elections.Traditionally a stronghold of the Congress, the state’s ruling BJP has been making efforts over the years to weaken the grand old party’s grip in the Jat-dominated region that comprises the Rohtak and the Sonipat Lok Sabha constituencies.In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won seven Lok Sabha seats it had contested, losing only in Rohtak.The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) had won two seats while the Congress won from Rohtak.After failing to break the Congress’ grip on Rohtak at that time, the BJP stepped up its activities in the region in a bid to weaken the Hooda family stronghold and the Congress.The BJP’s state headquarters is also based in Rohtak.In the 2019 general elections, the BJP swept Haryana, winning all 10 seats and smashing what were considered as “bastions” of prominent political families.The saffron party secured victory in Rohtak — the Hooda family citadel where incumbent Deepender Singh Hooda suffered defeat.The BJP also defeated veteran leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who had entered the fray from Sonipat.Having suffered setbacks in the 2019 elections, the Congress will look to give a tough fight to the BJP this time.The grand old party has a seat-sharing arrangement with the AAP, under which the Arvind Kejriwal-led party will contest from the Kurukshetra constituency.”Both parties will fight jointly and strongly,” Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said on the tie-up.Another challenge for the BJP in the Deswali belt and part of north Haryana, which includes the Ambala, Kurukshetra and the Karnal constituencies, is that the region witnessed a strong farmers’ movement against the three now-repealed farm laws.While the BJP government at the Centre and in Haryana claim to have undertaken several pro-farmer initiatives, farmers have been exerting pressure on the government to give a legal guarantee on minimum support price for crops.In the last general elections, the BJP had also won from Sirsa in the state’s Bagri belt, where the saffron party was once considered weak.Senior leader and former MP Ashok Tanwar recently joined the BJP after switching over from the AAP and this could further boost the saffron party.In south Haryana, also referred to as the Ahirwal belt — where Union Minister and Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh is the BJP’s most prominent leader — the Congress’ challenge is not expected to be easy.The BJP is targeting a repeat of its 2019 performance in Haryana by winning all 10 seats, former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had recently said.It recently ditched the Jannayak Janta Party, which came to the BJP’s rescue when the saffron party failed to win a majority in the Vidhan Sabha after the 2019 assembly polls.While BJP leaders claimed that both the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and the party’s dispensation in Haryana have taken the country and the state on the path of progress with pro-people, pro-farmer and pro-poor policies, the Congress’ Bhupinder Singh Hooda said there are multiple issues such as inflation and unemployment that have not been tackled.Polling for the 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases, starting with 102 in the first phase on April 19.The votes will be counted on June 4.
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