Gurgaon MP Plays Risky Politics In BJP Stronghold South Haryana. Will It Cost Party In State Election?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not only facing an anti-incumbency of 10 years in Haryana but is also struggling with infighting in its state unit ever since the candidates for all 90 assembly seats were declared.

The major concern for the party is south Haryana, which, although a BJP stronghold, may slip from the party's hands if three-time BJP Member of Parliament (MP) from Gurgaon, Rao Inderjit Singh, continues to show signs of rebellion.

One such example was seen in Mahendragarh. Rao was present during the nomination filing of former Haryana minister Ram Bilas Sharma, who was denied a ticket by the BJP for the assembly election scheduled for 5 October and is now contesting as an independent.

While it is a usual thing for rebels to contest as independents, what caught the eye was the presence of senior BJP leaders of south Haryana, like Rao, the members of the legislative assembly (MLA) from Ateli and Narnaul, Sitaram Yadav and Om Prakash Yadav, respectively, at Sharma's rally.

Though this rally was held hours before the BJP declared former district president Kanwar Singh Yadav as its Mahendragarh candidate on the night of 11 September, Rao's stance against the party is not new in this election season.

While acknowledging that the party has declared incumbent Nayab Singh Saini as the chief minister (CM) candidate, Rao said, "The people still want me to be the CM. This is not just my wish but a desire expressed by the people."

Although Rao urged his supporters to adhere to the decision taken by the party's top leadership, his many recent actions appear to go against the party's wishes, including the support for Sharma in Mahendragarh.

Advocating for former Mahendragarh MLA Sharma, Rao said, "Ticket is a different issue, but no senior leader should be insulted. It's like rubbing salt on wounds. The BJP should not cut his ticket; this will be a jolt to the state."

While Rao's support for the former BJP president of Haryana and five-time MLA can be understood, the claim by Congress candidate Manju Chaudhary in Nangal Chaudhary constituency of having Rao's support makes things worse.

Talking to Dainik Bhaskar, Chaudhary claimed that, like in 2019, Rao will be helping the Congress to defeat BJP candidate and two-time MLA Abhe Singh Yadav in Nangal Chaudhary.

Yadav and Rao are known to be at loggerheads as they compete for dominance in the Ahirwal (Yadav-dominated) region of Haryana that has 11 assembly seats.

Notably, Rao does not allow any other BJP leader to surpass him in this region. When Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav tried to do so in 2021, he was countered by Rao through a rally, and a truce was reached.

Ultimately, Yadav was moved to Rajasthan politics as he became Alwar MP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, vacating the space for Rao in his Ahirwal region, or more broadly, south Haryana, which has 23 of 90 assembly seats.

The BJP won 15 seats in 2014 and 14 in 2019 in south Haryana, making it the most reliable region for the BJP. The GT Road area, from where CM Saini hails, is also a BJP stronghold, but the party's performance dropped here in 2019 from 2014.

Thus, the BJP continues to give Rao his due share of importance as the four-time Gurgaon MP wields influence in south Haryana, which has played an important role in forming the BJP government in the state twice, in Rao's own words.

He has been a Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Narendra Modi government since 2019. In the Haryana election as well, the BJP has given many tickets as per Rao's wishes in south Haryana.

Rao's loyalists, such as Kosli MLA Laxman Singh Yadav and wrestler-turned-politician Mukesh Sharma, have been fielded in Rewari and Gurgaon, respectively, after which Naveen Goyal resigned from the party and is contesting as an independent.

Similarly, despite the party's policy against nepotism, a ticket was given to Rao's politically inexperienced daughter Aarti in Ateli, which led to the resignation of Haryana BJP's vice president and former deputy speaker Santosh Yadav.

Notably, the party has cut the tickets of a majority of its incumbent MLAs to counter anti-incumbency, but Narnaul MLA Yadav has been fielded for the third time in a row, a rare event, just because of Yadav's loyalty to Rao.

Thus, it can be concluded that Rao has taken a lot of risk in fielding and supporting candidates as per his wishes. This may even cost the party seats in south Haryana and lead to a loss of power in the state.

However, Rao claims that he will repeat the feat of 2014 and 2019 in the 2024 assembly election, and south Haryana will once again become the BJP's road to power. The wait is on for 8 October.