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The Haryana State Assembly Elections 2019
The history of the political patterns in Haryana is traced. The ground realities of the changing electoral moods in the region are brought to the forefront with a focus on the larger political picture that goes much beyond what are called mere political gimmicks.
The author would like to thank Gurinder Pal Singh and Avinash Saini for their discussions on the emerging political scenario in Haryana.
On 18 August 2019, Manohar Lal Khattar, the chief minister of Haryana, set out on his Jan Ashirwad Yatra (a tour to seek people’s blessings) from Kalka, in the Panchkula district of Haryana, the northern-most part of the state bordering Himachal Pradesh. Covering all of the 90 assembly segments of the state, the yatra ended after 22 days on 9 September in the southern district of Rohtak, his hometown. The yatra was to showcase the achievements of his government over the past five years on the basis of which he sought re-election to the state assembly, scheduled for October 2019. The yatra had presumably been quite successful, attracting crowds and generating excitement amongst the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cadre and the lay supporters of the party. Reporting from Sirsa district in the middle of the yatra, an India Today report claimed that the “Haryana Chief Minister was on a roll” (Mahurkar 2019):
The adulation is manifest. As the grizzled chief minister leans out of his election campaign rath and chants his trademark Haryana ek, Haryanvi ek (One Haryana for all Haryanvis) line, hundreds jostle to shake hands with him.
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