Kurukshetra, famous as the battlefield of Mahabharata and land of the Bhagavad Gita, has seen many interesting electoral battles during the previous Lok Sabha elections. Once known as Congress’ stronghold, Kurukshetra is currently dominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party which has been holding the seat since past two terms.
In 2019, the incumbent Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini had won the segment, defeating Congress’ Nirmal Singh with a vote margin of 3,84,591.
The voting for Kurukshetra parliamentary constituency will be conducted in the sixth phase of general elections 2024 on May 25. The constituency had witnessed 74.32 per cent voter turnout in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress’ Mool Chand Jain was the first MP from Kurukshetra in 1957. Out of 16 Lok Sabha elections, Congress party candidates had won 10 times in Kurukshetra. Congress leader Gulzari Lal Nanda, who was the country’s interim Prime Minister twice for 13 days each: the first time after the death of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964, and the second time after the death of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966, had contested and won the election from Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency in 1967 and 1971.
Kurukshetra parliamentary constituency, which covers the entire Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts and part of Yamunanagar district, was initially Kaithal Lok Sabha seat with its headquarters at Kaithal. Elections from second to fifth Lok Sabha were held at Kaithal Lok Sabha seat. The Kurukshetra seat came into existence in 1977.
At present, Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency comprises nine Vidhan Sabha constituencies — Radaur, Guhla (SC), Kalayat, Kaithal, Ladwa, Shahbad (SC), Pundri, Pehowa, Thanesar. In 2019 state assembly elections, BJP dominated by winning four seats of Thanesar, Pehowa, Kalayat, and Kaithal; Congress won two — Radaur and Ladwa, JJP also two — Guhla and Shahbad; with one independent candidate winning from Pundri.
With the elevation of BJP’s state unit chief and MP Nayab Singh Saini to the post of Haryana new Chief Minister a few days ago, Kurukshetra segment has become a hot seat in Haryana. This is not the first that the BJP has made surprise changes in a state government. In the past too, the party believed that the change in guard close to assembly polls helped it in beating the anti-incumbency. Former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, as a non-Jat leader, helped the BJP secure support from non-Jat castes in previous elections. The BJP is now banking on Saini for the same.
While Saini is likely to contest assembly bypolls from Karnal seat, BJP is yet to announce any candidate from Kurukshetra seat. Being a Chief Minister, Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat is going to be a very important election for him. Sources said that even though many local leaders of BJP have expressed their desire to contest the elections, BJP is likely to field any member of Jindal family. Two-time MP and former Congress leader Naveen Jindal or his wife is likely to contest election on BJP ticket.
Having suffered setbacks in 2019 parliamentary elections, the Congress will look to give a tough fight to the BJP this time. The grand old party has a seat-sharing arrangement under INDI alliance with the AAP, under which the Arvind Kejriwal-led party will contest from the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency. Former Rajya Sabha MP and AAP Haryana president Sushil Gupta has been declared as candidate for the seat. Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts share a border with Punjab, a state where the AAP is in power.
Moreover, with the announcement of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) national vice-president Prakash Bharti to field its senior party leader and general secretary Abhay Chautala from Kurukshetra, it is going to be a multi-cornered contest in the Lok Sabha elections. Earlier, Abhay had contested the Lok Sabha election in 2004 from Kurukshetra but lost to Congress candidate Naveen Jindal.
In the 2019 elections, Abhay Chautala’s younger son Arjun Chautala had contested from Kurukshetra seat. It was his first election and Arjun ended fifth with over 60,000 votes. By fielding Abhay from Kurukshetra, the INLD has sought to give a message to its cadres that the party was taking the Lok Sabha polls very seriously.
Political analysts opine that keeping in mind the caste equation, political parties are fielding candidates in the elections. Kurukshetra constituency has now become a hotbed for caste politics. Here, political parties are out to woo the Other Backward Classes (OBC) besides voters of four dominant communities — Jats, Saini, Brahmins and Dalits.
Interestingly enough, despite the dominance of Jat voters in Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency, none of the Jat candidates were ever able to reach the Lok Sabha. The Saini community can be termed as an X-factor in Kurukshetra as it plays the role of a kingmaker. There is an apprehension that INLD, the Congress besides Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) may polarize Jat voters in this election. Saini community voters will also influence this election as there is a rift between Jat and Saini communities over reservation quota for backward classes, they added.
They further opine that the Jat vote bank in the state is largely divided between the Congress, INLD, and its splinter group, the JJP. By dumping the JJP and letting it fight alone in the upcoming polls, the BJP is clearly trying to split Jat votes to its favour. Almost all non-BJP political parties also feel that polarization of Jat voters can ruin their chances.
Additionally, as per 2019 Assembly election, total voters in this constituency is 16,76,407 and nearly half belong to OBCs. While Jats form more than 30 per cent (four lakh) of the voters, there are nearly two lakh Dalit voters, 1.25 lakh Brahmin voters and one lakh Saini community voters. SC voters at Kurukshetra constituency is about 3,97,308 which is around 23.07 per cent. Rural voters in this constituency are about 12,58,982 which is about 75.1 per cent. Urban voters are about 4,19,102 which is about 25 per cent.
Despite all this, retaining the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency seat may not be a cakewalk for the BJP which had won 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections due to the Modi wave as voters cast their votes keeping in mind various issues including development and others, they added.
