A repeat of 'Gujarat formula' does the trick for BJP in Haryana
For BJP, a change of CM just months ahead of elections appears to be the fool-proof panacea for anti-incumbency
A key reason why the BJP pulled off a spectacular victory in Haryana is because it did a Gujarat just before the Assembly elections – change the chief minister and axe unpopular MLAs.
This is probably the primary reason the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is on course to a hat-trick of wins in Haryana, getting more seats than even in 2014 and 2019.
In the process, political pundits and exit polls which predicted an easy win for the Congress in Haryana now have egg on their face.
Gujarat experiment
In 2022, when Gujarat was ready for Assembly elections, Vijay Rupani was at the helm of the government. But the signs on the ground were not good for the party.
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Hence, the BJP decided on a big change. The BJP not only changed the chief minister but also overhauled the faces in the cabinet.
The BJP believed that the face, that is, the person seated on the chief minister’s chair, was responsible for the performance of the government. If people were angry with the face, the party bore the brunt.
Doing a Gujarat in Haryana
When it came to nominations, the BJP also cut the ticket of 33 MLAs including stalwarts like Vijay Rupani and Nitin Patel. The critical thing is that the party benefited electorally from the bitter decision.
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In Haryana too, the BJP swallowed a bitter pill and removed Manohar Lal Khattar, who was in power for about nine and a half months, from the post of chief minister and moved him to the Centre.
In his place, Nayab Singh Saini from the OBC group was given the top post in the state.
Managing discontent
Along with this, tickets of 16 outgoing MLAs were cut. In other words, an attempt was made to end all possible opposition against the government.
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Along with this, the mathematics of one-versus-36-communities in Haryana was understood and an attempt was made to give the message that Haryana must not by dominated by any one community in politics.
The Gujarat experiment has clearly succeeded in Haryana. The BJP will thus be forming a government in the state for a third time in a row.
(This article was originally published in The Federal Desh.)
