It will soon be a year since the declaration of Haryana Assembly election results on October 8. While the Opposition parties in the agrarian State have largely spent this past year revamping the organisation and expanding the cadre base, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), despite winning a record third consecutive victory in the poll, had its own share of challenges over these past few months.
The turn of events during this period of time has brought out in public the infighting within the saffron party on more than one occasion, and also raised questions on the real power of centre within the government with its own senior leader conceding outside influence in the Chief Minister’s Office.
Putting the spotlight on the question, otherwise discussed in a hush-hush manner in the State power corridors, BJP’s Gurgaon MP and prominent Ahir leader Rao Inderjit Singh, in a podcast two months ago, took the party by surprise saying that former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal could not become a “mass leader”, but still wielded influence in the State government with many bureaucrats continuing to hold important posts in the Chief Minister’s Office since his tenure.
In a rare praise for Mr. Lal, now serving as the Union Urban Affairs Minister, Mr. Singh acknowledged his role in translating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (Collective efforts, Inclusive development)” into a reality in Haryana, adding that Mr. Lal’s influence remained intact in the State. Besides the Chief Principal Secretary to CM, Rajesh Khullar, Officer Special Duty (OSD) Bharat Bhushan Bharti, Principal Advisor D.S. Dhesi, OSD Vivek Kalia, Political Secretary Tarun Bhandari are some of the important officials and appointees who continue to be in the CMO since Mr. Lal’s tenure.
Chief Minister Nayab Saini, once praised by Union Home Minister Amit Shah as “common man” for his grounded nature despite being at the helm of the affairs, attempted to reassert his popularity and authority with a big win in the mayoral polls – the BJP won nine out of 10 municipal corporations in March – soon after a historic win in the Assembly poll where he was the face of the campaign , but the assertions made by Mr. Singh re-emphasised his image as a “dummy CM”, as often referred to by the Opposition leaders.
The alleged worsening of the law and order situation in the State, the government going back on a couple of its controversial decisions after public backlash and the recent mishandling of the Manisha death case too have not helped the case of the beleaguered Chief Minister.
All’s not well in BJP camp
Earlier, the saffron party, which faced rebellion from senior leaders in the run-up to the polls, had to deal with open dissent from Energy and Transport Minister Anil Vij soon after the Assembly election, when he indirectly attacked the Chief Minister for hatching a conspiracy to try to defeat him in the polls.
Apparently miffed over denial of Home and Finance portfolios, Mr. Vij, took the CM head-on saying that Mr. Saini had been on an “udan khatola” (helicopter) ever since he became the Chief Minister. He further asserted that the “voice of his soul cannot be suppressed”. The seven-time MLA, who had once staked claim to the post of Chief Minister, went ahead to seek the resignation of State party president Mohan Lal Badoli, after he was accused of a rape, hinting that all was not well in the party, which once targeted the rival Congress of infighting.
Criticism from his own party colleague not just brought out the differences within the Haryana BJP in public, but also dealt a blow to the public image of Mr. Saini, already at the receiving end of the Opposition leaders, who have called him an “accidental CM”.
The fight for political supremacy between the BJP’s two Ahir leaders – Mr. Singh and Haryana Industries Minister Rao Narbir – was out in the open during the Mayor’s election for the newly-created Manesar municipal corporation. Mr. Narbir and the party’s State leadership threw weight behind the party’s official candidate, but Mr. Inderjit Independent candidate , supported by Mr. Singh, had the last laugh.
The fight for political supremacy between the BJP’s two Ahir leaders – Mr. Singh and Haryana Industries Minister Rao Narbir – was out in the open during the Mayor’s election for the newly-created Manesar municipal corporation. Mr. Narbir and the party’s State leadership threw weight behind the party’s official candidate, but Independent candidate Inderjit Yadav, supported by Mr. Singh, had the last laugh.
Congress tries new combination
Having narrowly lost to the BJP in the State polls, the Haryana Congress, marred by infighting, has finally managed to put in place an organisation set-up at the district level after more than a decade with the appointments of the district presidents. Taking a lesson from its electoral loss due to over-emphasis on the Jat vote bank, which is more than one-fifth of the electorate in the State, the grand old party has appointed only six Jat district presidents going for non-Jat faces even in Jat dominated Rohtak, Jhajjar and Charki Dadri districts. Though more than half of the newly-appointed district presidents belong to the Hooda camp, the supporters of Sirsa MP Kumari Selja too have bagged key positions in North Haryana. However, the party is yet to name the Congress Legislative Party leader and is also expected to appoint a new State president soon fuelling speculations that it could attempt new caste combinations this time around instead of the usual Jat-SC combination for the two key posts.
Pushed to political oblivion in State politics after the split in the party (Indian National Lok Dal and Jannayak Janta Party), the Chautalas suffered another blow in the death of party patriarch and former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala in December last year as his demise dashed all hopes of a possible reunion of the two factions and their political revival anytime soon.
Published – September 09, 2025 01:31 am IST