In violence-scarred Gohana, Congress has edge as farm stir, Agnipath & jobs top poll agenda

GOHANA: In 2005, Gohana was rocked by inter-caste violence. Around 50 Dalit homes were ransacked - some almost turned to ruins - in this small town in Haryana's Sonipat. The ravagers were incensed after a Jat was killed following an altercation with a group of Dalits over an alleged slur made a few days before.
Nearly two decades later, bitter memories of that long nightmare have receded to the background.In Valmiki Basti, the wrecked homes have been rebuilt; several doubled-storeyed now. Contractor Tilak Ram, old enough to remember, and 50-year-old peon Madan Lal, profess that the aggression of dominant castes has gone down considerably since then.
But younger Dalits in the colony have other problems to talk about. Naveen Sawan, a graduate who plays local cricket and repairs bats for a living, bemoans lack of jobs. His elder brother says, "Upar Modi theek hai. Par yahan badlao chahiye (Modi is okay at the Centre, but we need change in the state)." The colony's vote, he proffers while others nod, is largely divided between Congress and BJP. Others in the fray - Dushyant Chautala's JJP and Abhay Singh Chautala's INLD, which is in alliance with BSP - don't figure in the discussion. Neither does AAP, contesting all 90 seats. Gohana assembly seat has 19% SC voters.
Electioneering is at its peak in this bustling town, also famous among foodies for its giant jalebis. Vehicles flaunting party flags are brimful of robust men. Even independents are campaigning with gusto, notably Harsh Chikara, a young Jat social worker whose posters are prominent across the town and outside.
Four-time MLA Jagbir Singh Malik of Congress won the last three polls. His vote share, though, has declined from 42% in 2009 to 33% in 2019. The 74-year-old Jat politician, a graduate in legislative law, faces BJP's Arvind Kumar Sharma, a 61-year-old dental surgeon and a four-term MP from an assortment of parties. Sharma lost badly on a BJP ticket to Congressman Deepender Singh Hooda in this year's Lok Sabha polls in Rohtak; he had defeated the same opponent narrowly five years earlier. "He has been brought in to end the long reign of Malik," says Sonu Bamania, a Dalit who makes seats for automobiles.
Mobile store owner Dinanath Chawla says Sharma is a good candidate for BJP, especially since the assembly seat has seen little development in the Malik years. But fellow shopkeeper Kartikay Mehta says that Sharma is being looked at as an outsider. "BJP will muster decent votes in the town but Congress is stronger in the surrounding Jat-dominated villages. That's Malik's stronghold," he says. About 72% of Gohana voters are rural, according to chanakya.com.
Like several other states both in north and south India, caste is embedded in Haryana society and politics. Pundits often see Haryana's politics as a binary between Jats and non-Jats. Roughly 1/4th of the state's total population, Jats are Haryana's single-largest caste and have traditionally lorded over state politics. The situation changed in 2014 when BJP swept the state polls and Manohar Lal Khattar, an RSS pracharak and a Punjabi, was made the CM. Shortly before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Nayab Singh Saini, an OBC, replaced him. BJP's slogan for the Oct 5 assembly polls is: "Non-stop Vikas, Sabka Viswas (Non-stop Development, Everyone's Trust)."
In Khandrai village, a mixed group of young and elderly Jats are unimpressed. The community seems to be gravitating in bulk towards Congress despite other parties led by Jat politicians in the fray. Their decision-making is spurred by the fact that the Congress campaign is spearheaded by former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a Jat, and his son Deepender. Incidentally, the Gohana violence happened under Hooda's watch as CM.
Local farmer leader Ashok Lathwa lists lathicharge on protesters during the farmers' agitation (2021 and 2023), the Agnipath scheme and widespread unemployment as three key subjects of grievances against BJP regime.