Everything is fair in love and war’.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress are involved in a high-stakes battle in Haryana. BJP has been in power in the state for ten years. The Congress is trying to pull all its stops to stage a comeback.
Both parties are faced with rebellion and internal squabbling, thus giving each other enough chances and ammunition against each other.
As senior Congress leader and a prominent Dalit face Kumari Selja distanced herself from the campaigning for about two weeks during the peak of the campaigning, senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Manoharlal Khattar “invited” her to join the BJP.
This set alarm bells ringing in the Congress. Although it is highly unlikely that Selja may desert the Congress and join the BJP, in politics nothing can be ruled out. Particularly after Selja was feeling sidelined by the high command over the denial of tickets to her loyalists. Added to her hurt were casteist remarks, made against her during a Congress meeting by a senior Congress worker.
Selja did not react to Khattar’s “invitation”. It was only during a news television programme in reply to a question that she said that the BJP should stop advising her and that her course would be charted out by the Congress and not by anyone else.
She is a second-generation Congress leader from Haryana. Her father Chaudhary Dalbir Singh was also an MP and a prominent Dalit leader of the party from the state. Selja has served as a union minister during different Congress governments at the centre. Moreover, she is considered very close to the Gandhi family. Her leaving the party is quite an unlikely proposition.
But in politics, rumours do not need any reason or logic and more so during the elections. In Selja’s case, though, there was a reason that she was feeling ignored and alienated after being sidelined. She has set aside all the speculations now. She is likely to join the campaign in a day or two.
Congress on the other hand did not take the “BJP invitation” to Selja to join the party lightly. The party hit back at Khattar with the Congress Spokesperson and Chairperson of the Media and Publicity Department Pawan Khera claiming that Khattar after being removed as the Chief Minister was deeply disappointed and wanted to join the Congress at that time.
There has been no reaction so far from Khattar. Given his seniority and proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and long years in the RSS, it is highly unlikely that he may ever leave the BJP and join the Congress. But again, rumours in politics and that too during election season always have a free run.
Khera’s aim in claiming that Khattar wanted to join the Congress was to counter and hit back at him (Khattar) for trying to fish in the troubled waters of Congress. Although not many people took Khera’s claims seriously, for a while it did make a headline and that is what the parties need during the elections; managing the headlines.
As the election campaigning in Haryana enters its decisive phase, the rhetoric and the charges and counter-charges are likely to intensify to unimaginable extent.
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