Rohtak, known as the political capital of Haryana and a major hub of the Jat electorate, has always remained a prestige issue for the political parties in the election.
In upcoming 2019 general elections, Rohtak constituency, one of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, will remain a major focus for all the major political parties.
The constituency is known as a stronghold of two-time former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and had withstood the Modi wave during the previous Lok Sabha elections 2014, in which the BJP had swept seven out of 10 seats in the state.
With Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s son, Deepender Singh Hooda in the fray, the Congress had managed to retain only one seat i.e. Rohtak in the last general election.
Deepender Singh Hooda had won for the third consecutive time by a margin of more than 1.7 lakh votes. Haryana’s Cabinet Minister OP Dhankar was BJP’s nominee and had finished second after securing 3.18 lakh votes, while INLD’s Shamsher Kharkara polled 1.51 lakh votes and Aam Aadmi Party candidate Naveen Jaihind had finished fourth.
During the general election, Deepender had managed to keep his supremacy in the seven segments namely Rohtak, Meham, Badli, Jhajjar, Kiloi and Kalanaur while Dhankar took lead in Kosli and Bahadurgarh segments in Rohtak parliamentary seat.
Many attributed the victory to the development that Rohtak had witnessed and support of Jat voters due to his father Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
The strength of influential Jat community is particularly high in central Haryana, which includes Rohtak. They also have a significant presence in Hisar, Bhiwani, Jind, Sirsa and Sonepat districts.
In previous 2009 general elections, Deepender had retained the Rohtak seat in style, with a record margin by defeating his main rival Nafe Singh Rathi of the INLD by a margin of over 4.45 lakh votes.
Four-time MP from Rohtak since 1991, Hooda is a popular Jat leader and Congress strongman in the Jat heartland of Rohtak. He is the sitting MLA of Garhi Sampla Kiloi assembly constituency in Rohtak district.
Political experts say that the Rohtak constituency turned into a bastion for the Hooda family after the arrival of Bhupinder Singh Hooda into the political scenario in mid 90s. Earlier, the vote bank was with the Devi Lal clan.
Rohtak constituency comprise of nine assembly segments, out of which assembly constituencies of Kalanaur and Jhajjar are reserved for candidates belonging to the scheduled caste community. While four assembly segments are in Rohtak district, Kosli assembly segment is in Rewari district, Jhajjar, Beri, Bahadurgarh and Badli together come under the Jhajjar district.
According to the Election Commission, there are around 16.3 lakh voters including 7.6 lakh female voters in the Rohtak parliamentary constituency. This includes 7.2 lakh voters in Rohtak district, 6.8 lakh in Jhajjar district and 222569 voters in Kosli segment.
After BJP’s victory in recent civic body polls in Rohtak and 2014 assembly seat win from Rohtak seat, the ruling party is looking to wrest the Congress’ bastion this time. The strategy of consolidating the non-Jat votes had worked for the BJP in 2014 assembly election in Rohtak.
Notably, Rohtak district was the epicenter of violent Jat reservation stir 2016, which resulted in bitterly divided Haryana on caste lines and is now likely to play a key part in shaping the public opinion in deciding the political outcome in 2019 polls.
At present, the Jat community is unhappy with the ruling BJP over their long-pending demands including reservation in government jobs and educational institutions, general amnesty for those booked during the February 2016 Jat quota violence and reconsideration of criminal cases registered during Jat agitation.
Aiming to mend fences with the influential Jat community in Haryana ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in October last year unveiled the statue of venerated Jat farmer leader Deenbandhu Sir Chhotu Ram in Jat heartland of Rohtak and had addressed ‘Deenbandhu Samriti Rally’ where he had lauded the contribution of the peasant leader for empowering poor and farmers in pre-Independence era.
Aware of the resentment among the Jat community over their unfulfilled demands, the Prime Minister had had gone all out showering praises on Chhotu Ram, the tallest Jat-farmer leader of the pre-Independence era.
Earlier in August 2017, BJP chief Amit Shah had spent three days in Rohtak attending 27 events which included meetings with Ministers, MLAs, MPs, party office bearers and RSS cadre to chalk out strategy to strengthen the party in Congress’ bastion.
Fought on the home turf of two-time former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the Congress’ nominee is likely to be three-time MP Deepender Singh Hooda again while other parties would also go for a populace Jat face in Rohtak parliamentary seat for 2019 general election.