Being fought on the home turf of the late Chief Minister Bhajan Lal family, the byelection to Adampur Assembly segment in Haryana’s Hisar, is, indeed, about whether one of the most prominent political families in the State can hold on to their five-decade-old bastion or not.
The Assembly constituency, held by Mr. Lal for over three decades since 1968, and later by his son Kuldeep Bishnoi and daughter-in-law Renuka, now has his grandson Bhavya fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party as a joint coalition candidate for the byelection. The election was necessitated by Bhavya’s father Mr. Bishnoi’s resignation as Adampur MLA, after he quit the Congress to join the BJP.
Though the outcome of the byelection will be of little consequence in terms of the composition of the State Assembly, the result could have a bearing on the future prospects of the political parties, especially the new entrant Aam Aadmi Party, and the State politics, say political analysts.
While the BJP would like to end its losing streak in byelections, having already lost Baroda and Ellenabad battles since the Assembly election in 2019, the Adampur byelection will also be a test of popularity for the Hoodas outside their home turf. With the Hoodas’ rivals in the party already accusing the father-son duo of running the show on their own, any unfavourable result would be an opportunity to bay for their blood.
For AAP, which sees the byelection as a “gateway to Haryana”, the result could make or mar its future prospects in the State. As put by Prof. Rajendra Sharma, Head, Political Science Department, Maharishi Dayanand University, the AAP’s performance in Adampur would definitely be an indicator of future political trends in Haryana and also hold significance for the party’s own future in the State.
Interestingly, Congress’ candidate Jai Prakash is pitched against his own party rebels with all three major rival political parties fielding turncoats. While BJP’s Bhavya had contested the Hisar Lok Sabha election in 2019 on Congress ticket, AAP’s Satinder Singh was Congress’ candidate for Adampur in 2014. Similarly, the Indian National Lok Dal has fielded Congress rebel Kurdaram, a resident of Balsamand village, after he quit the party over the denial of the ticket.
Led by former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his Rajya Sabha MP son Deepender Hooda, the Congress has been seeking votes against the “misrule” and “anti-people” policies of the BJP-JJP government, besides targetting Mr. Bishnoi for “cheating” the party and the people by switching loyalties for his personal gains.
Mr. Bishnoi, leading the campaign for his son, has been seeking votes in the name of his family, and the achievements of Manohar Lal and Modi governments. Though the BJP and the JJP contesting together, unlike in 2019, will work to Mr. Bhavya’s advantage, the call by farmer leaders and organisations and the Left parties to defeat BJP could be a cause of concern for the ruling coalition.
Having placed its bets on a local resident, the AAP has built a narrative around the “accessibility of the candidate” to make it a “local vs outsider” election.
The locals said the election had gradually been narrowing down to a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress, but the division of votes along Jat and non-Jat lines could help the saffron party.
Also, both Congress and Mr. Bishnoi are trying to label each other “anti-Dalit” with an eye on the Scheduled Caste vote bank.
A section of the electorate rued that local issues had taken a back seat and election had become candidates-centric. “Drinking and irrigation water are major issues in this region. The farmers held a protest at tehsil office earlier this year for more than a month, seeking compensation for damage to crops in 2020, and recently the parents and students in Churi Kalan, Mohabatpur and Khairampur villages sat on a dharna against the closure of schools. Healthcare infrastructure is in shambles in the area and there have been long delays in payment under MGNREGA. But no one seems interested in talking about it,” lamented Mukesh Kumar, 36, a resident of Durjanpur village.
