Jind byelection today, voters keep political parties on tenterhooks
1.7 lakh voters to choose their legislator for a nine-month long tenure
the ruling party has an advantage as it is the only one that has fielded a non-jat candidate.
Randeep Surjewala of the Congress, Umed Singh Redhu of the INLD and Digvijay Chautala of the JJP are all Jats.
“In Jind, the last time a Jat candidate was elected was in 1972. Since then, the constituency has always elected a non-jat candidate. This gives the BJP an advantage, not only because it is the only party that fielded a nonjat candidate but because Jat votes will be divided into three parts due to the three Jat candidates,” said Raj Singh, a political expert.
Of 1.7 lakh voters in Jind, Jats form a single majority with 45,000 votes. Punjabis, Baniyas and Brahmins number between 12,000 and 15,000 each, while the rest 70,000 belong to scheduled castes and backward classes.
As Jats remained upset with the BJP due their unfulfilled reservation demand, the saffron party largely campaigned in urban areas to seize the Punjabi, Baniya and Brahmin votes. The Congress, which is banking on Surjewala’s popularity, let go its internal rift for a change. Rivals Bhupinder Hooda, Ashok Tanwar and Kiran Choudhry all came out in Surjewala’s support.
The fledgling JJP got a boost with the AAP announcing its support to it and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal addressing a rally Saturday, canvassing for JJP nominee Digvijay Singh Chautala. Kejriwal told the electorate that he decided to support the JJP after he found the two younger members of the Chautala clan “selfless”.
The defender of the seat, INLD, got a major setback after its supremo Om Prakash Chautala’s furlough was cancelled and he could not come out of jail to campaign. The party sought votes slamming the JJP on Chautala’s videos in which he heaped curses on his grandsons Dushyant and Digvijay.
Poll observers say Loktantra Suraksha Party candidate Vinod Ashri too has the potential to play spoilsport in the multi-cornered contest.
Ashri, a Brahmin leader from Jind is a nominee put up by BJP’S rebel MP from Kurukshetra, Raj Kumar Saini who is the party’s patron.
Saini has an influence among voters from OBC community.