Faced with hostility, BJP & JJP Haryana picks seek cop cover

JIND/BATHINDA: A backlash against BJP and JJP in Haryana over hot-button issues ranging from MSP for farm produce to unemployment has forced election nominees from the estranged former allies, including ex-CM Manohar Lal Khattar, to campaign under police protection and sometimes even cancel rallies in the face of public hostility.

Candidates have been heckled at many places in the state's rural belt, occasionally triggering clashes between supporters on either side.


Besides Khattar, BJP's candidate for Karnal, the party's Hisar nominee, Ranjit Singh Chautala, has faced aggressive questioning and sloganeering by villagers at multiple venues in the hinterland.

BJP nominees Ashok Tanwar from Sirsa, Banto Kataria from Ambala, Mohan Lal Badoli from Sonipat, Arvind Sharma from Rohtak, Dharambir Singh from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh and Naveen Jindal from Kurukshetra have had to call off rallies on several occasions.

JJP's Ajay Chautala and his family - former deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, the latter's brother Digvijay Singh Chautala, and the siblings' mother Naina Singh Chautala - have run into protests while campaigning in various districts.


Naina Chautala's entourage and farmers clashed a few days ago in Uchana Kalan of Hisar constituency, forcing JJP to cancel her campaign to Roj Khera. A police contingent was assigned to her thereafter.

Sonipat nominee Mohan Lal Badoli also required police intervention after heckling and haranguing by farmers.

Officials said the intelligence agencies were on the job to pre-empt any protest brewing in a particular area ahead of poll campaigning by BJP and JJP candidates.

In contrast to the former allies, Congress candidates have been campaigning freely and focusing on local issues, besides BJP's alleged plan to "change the Constitution and snatch the rights of backward communities".

The undercurrents impeding BJP and JJP's poll campaigns coincided with the farmers' agitation at Shambhu and Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border completing three months on Monday.

Farm organisations are sticking to their demand for a legal guarantee on minimum support price & a blanket debt waiver, among other things.

On February 13, the tractor convoys that Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) had sent out to Delhi ran into concrete walls and boulders at Shambhu near Ambala and Khanauri near Sangrur, a barrier that continues to hold them down.

KMM convener Sarvan Singh Pandher said, "We didn't block the roads at Shambhu and Khanauri, it was the Haryana govt that did so. Now, when we reciprocate, they shouldn't complain. If farmers can't go to Delhi to protest, BJP campaigners can't go to our villages for votes."

Farm unions have also blocked BJP's poll campaign in Punjab, which will vote on June 1. Haryana goes to polls in the sixth phase on May 25.