This was the first election in any assembly constituency in Haryana after the farmers’ agitation began 11 months ago.
Abhay Chautala. Photo: Facebook/Abhay Chautala
Chandigarh: The writing was on the wall as ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Jannayak Janata Party candidate, Gobind Kanda, lost the Ellenabad by-poll to Abhay Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) by over 6,000 votes.
This was the first election in any assembly constituency in Haryana after the farmers’ agitation began 11 months ago on the Haryana-Delhi borders.
The ruling BJP in Haryana has been claiming that the agitation has the support of only “a handful of people”. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar too has said this repeatedly.
While the BJP-JJP claimed after the results that it managed to narrow the margin of defeat to almost half compared to 2019, the larger message is clear. In the end, farmers, who held an intense campaign against the BJP-JJP candidate before the October 30 by-poll, have had a last laugh.
Political commentator Ashutosh Kumar said that the party in power always has an advantage in by-polls. But it is unusual that the ruling alliance has been losing one by-poll after another in the past 1.5 years. It even lost the municipal polls last year, he pointed. It is clear that the farmers’ protest had a major role to play.
“The only good news for the BJP is that it could manage to retain its vote bank, as it was earlier perceived that it would be defeated badly,” said Kumar.
The by-poll in Ellenabad was necessitated after Abhay Chautala resigned in January this year in support of the farmers’ protests. For him, this win means that the INLD may gain some political relevance among the traditional Jat vote bank, which shifted to the Congress after the 2005 state elections. Later, a split in the Chautala family further damaged the vote bank.
Also read: As BJP Suffers Big Losses in the By-Polls, Is the Tide Turning in Himachal Pradesh?
The JJP – formed by Abhay’s brother Ajay Chautala and his sons Dushyant and Digvijay – is an alliance partner for the BJP’s in Haryana since 2019. The two brothers – Abhay and Ajay – had a bitter war of words in the run-up to the polls. But it is Abhay who managed to retain the seat, using anti-BJP sentiments due to the farmers’ protests.
Abhay got 65,897 votes, defeating BJP’s Gopal Kanda, who was polled 59,189 votes, by a margin of 6,000 votes. On the other hand, Congress’s Pawan Beniwal was at distant third with 20,857 votes.
The win, many believe, will intensify the family feud in the Chautala clan over appropriating the farmers’ votes.
Farmers’ aggressive campaign against BJP pays off
As far as the farmers’ organisations are concerned, the defeat of the ruling BJP-JJP candidate is seen as nothing short of a referendum against the Union government’s farm laws. They have protesting against these laws since November last year . The farmers’ protest on the Delhi-Haryana borders will complete one year on November 26.
With the Punjab and Uttar Pradesh assembly elections just two-three months away, farmers will most likely use the Ellenabad by-poll result to launch a campaign for the political boycott of the BJP, which passed these laws in parliament, in these two states as well.
In the Ellenabad bypoll too, farmers’ leaders followed their West Bengal election strategy. They did not pitch for any particular party, but insisted on people not voting for the BJP-JJP nominee. To make their presence felt, the farmers held protests in Ellenabad. Bharatiya Kisan Union’s Gurnam Singh Chaduni addressed public meetings and roadshows against the BJP-JJP candidate.
Two days before the polling, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leader Rakesh Tikait held meetings and while indirectly referring to Abhay Chautala’s resignation, said: “Somebody has relied on the Samyukt Morcha …return his items by making it savaya (25% extra), only then relevance of the khap panchayats, gurudwaras and Samyukta Morcha will be intact.”
As the farmers’ protest was a major issue in the election and Abhay Chautala called it a referendum against the BJP government’s farm laws, the outcome of the by-poll was not surprising.
Jagmohan Singh, spokesperson of the SKM, told The Wire that the defeat of the BJP-JJP candidate is the best Diwali gift for the farmers. “BJP will continue to lose till the time they don’t repeal the black laws. The Ellenabad result will encourage us to launch a similar campaign against BJP candidates in UP and Punjab elections,” he said.
SKM’s warning to BJP after poll result
In a statement, SKM leaders said that Tuesday’s by-poll results, especially in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, hold a clue for what is in store for the BJP if it does not align government policies with citizens’ interests.
“Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar’s statement, that dialogue is the only solution for any agitation, and for the farmers’ struggle too, is very true. However, it shows the hypocrisy of BJP which remains unwilling to resume dialogue with the protesting farmers. The last round of talks ended on January 22nd 2021. After this, the government refused to resume the dialogue. Meanwhile, several BJP leaders, including Mr Khattar, have made threatening statements against the farmers, and tried to repress the movement in all possible ways,” said SKM leaders.
They added that there are regular attempts by the BJP leaders to undermine justice in the Lakhimpur Kheri case, including transfer of officers, delay in witness reports and VIP treatment to the accused Ashish Mishra and his accomplices. SKM reiterated its demand for dismissal and arrest of Ajay Mishra Teni, and for a Supreme-Court-monitored SIT investigation.
SKM also added that overall in parliamentary by-elections, BJP got only one seat out of three. In the assembly by-elections to 30 assembly seats in 14 states, wherever the farmers’ movement has put in its energies to urge voters to punish BJP for its anti-farmer policies – Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan – the results went against the BJP.
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(With input from news agency language)
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