Why women leaders are giving BJP headaches in battleground Haryana

After winning over Kiran Chaudhary from the Congress in Haryana to its side, the BJP tried hard — without success though — to convince Kumari Selja to do the same. Why? Is it because the two women have a following among Jats and Dalits of Haryana, respectively? Or is there more to it?

Perhaps, the answer to this primarily lies in the fact that both Kiran and Selja are women. And the BJP in Haryana lacks a credible woman leader who could sway female voters at a time when the party is facing a severe backlash after Haryana’s women wrestlers fell out with it.

This has been so since before the declaration of the Assembly elections in Haryana.

BJP woos female politicians

Allegations of sexual harassment by the BJP-led wrestling federation never died down. It came to be a campaign issue with the declaration of the election schedule in Haryana.

To counter this, the BJP has been inducting one woman leader after another in its campaign to win back female voters in Haryana, though doubts remain as to how far these efforts are going to succeed when the votes are cast on October 5.

First, Kiran Chaudhary joined the BJP. She was quickly made a Rajya Sabha member from Haryana. Soon her daughter Shruti Chaudhary, a former Congress MP, was given the BJP ticket for the Assembly polls. Their entry into BJP made the party plan and seek more such crossovers from endemically faction-ridden — though now resurgent — Congress in Haryana.

BJP tries to induct Selja

No less a person than Union Home Minister Amit Shah, besides former Haryana chief minister and now a Union minister ML Khattar, publicly said that Dalits such as Selja were getting short shrift in the Congress. Khattar made an open offer for Selja to join the BJP.

But the 62-year-old Congress MP from Sirsa remained unmoved despite the Congress declining to field her from a Haryana Assembly seat and also denying a party ticket to two of her loyal supporters. This was amid opposition from former Congress Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Obviously, Selja has chief ministerial ambitions. So, she decided to stay away from the Congress campaign in Delhi, which made the BJP all the more hopeful of winning her over.

Selja stays firm in Congress

But she was invited to meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday (September 23) to discuss Haryana-related issues.

Soon, Kharge’s sobering effect on Selja was visible. After the meeting, she told TV journalists of her staunch and unwavering commitment to the Congress. Kharge also greeted her on her birthday a day after.

The way Selja warmed up again to her party shows the BJP is not an attractive proposition for her. It cannot give her more than what she has got.

Phogat makes waves

Selja is already an MP from Haryana, which was not the case with Kiran Chaudhary before she joined the BJP.

Olympian Vinesh Phogat is contesting the polls as a Congress candidate, too. This has refreshed memories of the women wrestlers’ agitation in New Delhi, leading to police repression. Phogat's candidature is becoming an insignia of women’s indignation against harassment at workplaces.

Kangana upsets farmers

The BJP is well aware of this. Thus, no sooner than the party was rebuffed by Selja, its new MP from neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, Kangana Ranaut, hastened to provoke Haryana farmers.

She urged them to accept the three farm laws that were withdrawn by the Narendra Modi government following a dragging agitation by farmers in 2020-21.

Jats versus non-Jats?

The majority of farmers in Haryana are Jats, a community to which most of the protesting women wrestlers, including Phogat, belong as well. The idea behind Kangana’s salvo could well have been to enrage the Jats to react in a way whereby non-Jat voters get so apprehensive that they vote as a counterweight to Jats.

Both Kangana and her party know that this will benefit the BJP alone, as the more the Jats fret about issues such as farm laws or women wrestlers, the better it is for the other castes, and for the BJP as well. But since women cut across castes and classes, the BJP is now more worried about getting their votes than men.

BJP in dilemma?

However, soon Kangana retracted her statement on farm laws, saying, “I have to keep in mind that I am not just an artiste but also a BJP worker. My opinions should not be personal and should be the party’s stand. I regret and take my words back if my comments have disappointed anyone.”

This shows a lack of conviction on the MP’s part and also a dilemma of sorts for her party with regard to the mood of farmers and women voters in Haryana.