New Delhi: In February this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party government at New Delhi conferred the Bharat Ratna on the late Chaudhary Charan Singh, the only politician from the Jat community to have ever occupied the prime minister’s post.
Singh died in 1987. A month after the Bharat Ratna announcement, the BJP inducted the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), led by Singh’s grandson Jayant Chaudhary, into the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Once a fierce critic of the BJP’s Hindutva ideology, Chaudhary’s entry into the NDA came as a surprise to many. However, the BJP’s courting of the party, which has a strong support base in the Jat-dominated Western Uttar Pradesh, made sense.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
By allying with the RLD, the BJP wanted to ensure that it does not lose support of the powerful Jat community, which in recent times has locked horns with the party’s government over issues such as the farmers’ agitation, wrestlers’ protest and the introduction of the Agniveer scheme for recruitment in the armed forces.
Months after the alliance, as the BJP went into the Lok Sabha elections, it hoped that the partnership with RLD would help the NDA to capture a majority of the Lok Sabha seats in western Uttar Pradesh, which has a large Jat population.
The saffron party also hoped to repeat its stellar performance in other Hindi heartland states such as Rajasthan and Haryana, where the Jats had overwhelmingly voted for the party in the 2014 and 2019 elections. In 2019, the NDA had made a clean sweep in both the states.
But as the results were declared on June 4, it became evident that one of the reasons for the BJP losing 44 seats in the three states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana as compared to 2019 was the Jat community voting against the party in several of these constituencies, where it has constituted a large part of the electorate.
Also read: Interview: Farm Law Repeal a Win for Farmers, But Agrarian Distress Continues, Says Jayant Chaudhary
BJP’s rout in Western UP’s sugarcane belt
The BJP’s alliance with the RLD was up for a test in the very first phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, when eight Lok Sabha constituencies – Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Kairana, Nagina, Bijnor, Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit – in the sugarcane belt of Western UP were set to vote on April 19.
Among the eight seats, the BJP had allotted the Bijnor seat to the RLD while it fielded its own candidates in the remaining seven. The saffron party could win only the Pilibhit seat out of the six constituencies, while the RLD managed to win the Bijnor seat. The RLD also won Baghpat, where the elections took place at a later phase.
Riding on the Jat community’s support, the INDIA alliance bagged six of the eight seats in the first phase of polling in Western UP.
One of the biggest upsets for the BJP took place in the Muzaffarnagar parliamentary seat, when former Union minister and two-time MP from the constituency, Jat strongman Sanjeev Balyan lost to the Samajwadi Party’s Harendra Singh Malik, another Jat leader.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Balyan had defeated former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh’s son and RLD founder Ajit Singh by a narrow margin of over 6,000 votes. In the 2024 elections, Balyan lost to the SP’s Malik by over 24,000 votes.
FILE IMAGE: Union minister Sanjeev Balyan attending religious rituals on the death anniversary of two Hindu Jat youth whose killings – along with the killing of a Muslim young man – had triggered riots. Photo: Twitter/@drsanjeevbalyan
During the 2020-21 protests against the three farm laws, Jat farmers from the region around Muzaffarnagar and Western UP had joined the agitation in large numbers, with Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leaders such as Rakesh Tikait spearheading the movement in Uttar Pradesh.
“The 2024 election results show a manifestation of Jats against the BJP. Issues such as the government not passing a law on minimum support price (MSP), non-payment of sugarcane dues led to widespread anger in the community. The Jat community sees itself as the voice of farmers,” former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik told The Wire.
A Jat politician from Western UP, ever since his relationship with the BJP soured, Malik has been holding multiple meetings with Jat community members in different states of the Hindi heartland and supported movements such as the wrestlers’ protest and the farmer movement in recent years.
In other seats such as Nagina, which even though is reserved, but has Jat voters, the opposition trumped the BJP. Azad Samaj Party (ASP) leader Chandra Shekhar Aazad won the Nagina seat despite not being in the SP-Congress alliance. He defeated the BJP, SP and BSP candidates to win the seat by a margin of more than 1.5 lakh votes.
Also read: BJP’s Tie-Up With RLD Helps Consolidation of Jats in Muzaffarnagar, But Not Everyone is Happy
‘Tejal Super Duper’: How a folk deity helped Congress consolidate support in Rajasthan
Who would have thought that a song written in the praise of an 11th century folk deity would come to the rescue of a political party, which was facing a complete electoral rout in the Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan since the last 10 years?
This is precisely the case with the Congress, which has much to thank to ‘Veer Teja Ji’, a folk deity widely worshipped by the Jat community in Rajasthan, and whose name became a rallying point to consolidate Jat support against the BJP.
After drawing a blank in the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary elections, the Congress managed to win eight seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan, with its allies also winning three seats. The NDA, which had been winning all 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state since the last 10 years, couldn’t defend its hundred per cent record, and was defeated by the opposition in 11 seats, while the BJP won in 14 constituencies.
Govind Singh Dotasra dancing to ‘Tejal Super Duper’.
In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, it became a common sight to see state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra twirling a piece of cloth over his head, while dancing to the tune of ‘Tejal Super Duper’, a popular song written as a paean to Veer Teja Ji.
“Folk deity Teja ji holds significant importance for the Jat community due to his embodiment of courage, sacrifice, and social justice. He is revered for his bravery in protecting his family and community, standing up for the weak and oppressed, which makes him a symbol of justice and equality. Additionally, he is seen as the protector of farmers and worshipping him promotes a strong sense of unity and community among the Jats,” says Congress leader Akhil Chaudhary.
Days after the election results were declared, Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra posted a photo on social media, wherein he was seen meeting Rajasthani singer Raju Rawal and lyricist Sanjay Gurjar, the men behind ‘Tejal Super Duper.’
“The BJP’s agenda doesn’t include farmers, Dalits and minorities. We tried to unite everyone against the party. Teja Ji is a folk deity of the farming class. The farming community could connect with us when I spoke about Teja ji in the local dialect. Our campaign was effective in stopping the BJP,” Dotasra told The Wire.
श्री तेजाजी महाराज के लोकप्रिय गीत तेजल सुपर डुपर के गायक राजू रावल जी, संगीतकार संजय गुर्जर जी एवं उनकी टीम से स्नेहिल मुलाकात हुई।
मारवाड़ी भाषा में तेजाजी के शानदार गीत की विश्व में प्रसिद्धि के लिए कलाकारों को बधाई एवं उत्साहवर्धन कर अनेक शुभकामनाएं दी।#TejalSuperDuper pic.twitter.com/1BfNVL6067
— Govind Singh Dotasra (@GovindDotasra) June 6, 2024
One of the key factors which led to the Congress and INDIA Alliance’s wins in Rajasthan was the support of the Jat community.
The Congress and the INDIA Alliance swept the Shekhawati region and pockets of western and eastern Rajasthan where the Jats–numerically the biggest single caste group in the state–voted overwhelmingly in favour of the grand old party and its allies.
Jats form the biggest farming class in Rajasthan, with a majority of the community members engaged in agriculture.
In the Jat-dominated Shekhawati region comprising the districts of Sikar, Churu and Jhunjhunu, an important issue that contributed to the anger of Jats against the BJP was the Agniveer Scheme introduced by the Centre, which directly affected the lives of thousands of Jat youngsters from the region who hope to join the armed forces every year.
In some constituencies such as Churu, local equations also turned the electoral fight into a ‘Jat versus Rajput’ contest. When Churu MP Rahul Kaswan switched to the Congress after the BJP denied him a ticket, the contest between Kaswan and the BJP’s candidate Paralympian Devendra Jhajharia became a proxy war between Kaswan and senior BJP leader Rajendra Rathore, who was held responsible by the Jats for the BJP denying Kaswan a ticket. Kaswan won the seat by a margin of more than 70,000 votes on a Congress ticket.
Such was the Jat support for the opposition in Rajasthan that smaller players in the state from the INDIA Alliance such as the CPI (M) and the Hanuman Beniwal-led RLP also managed to win the Sikar and Nagaur seats, considered as part of the Jat heartland in Rajasthan.
Five of the 11 seats won by the INDIA alliance in Rajasthan–Sikar, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Nagaur and Barmer–are from areas with high Jat population.
‘Farmers gifted five seats to Congress in Haryana’
Much like Rajasthan, back in 2019, the BJP had won all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. Five years later, it could win only half of its 2019 tally, with the Congress winning five parliamentary seats in the state.
Among the five seats that the Congress won in Haryana – Ambala, Sirsa, Rohtak, Hisar and Sonipat – two were won by Jat candidates and two by Dalits and one seat by a Brahmin candidate.
Jat farmer leaders from Haryana say that such was the anti-BJP sentiment among the Jats in Haryana that the Congress could have increased its tally but lagged behind due to infighting.
“The Congress could have won two-three more seats in Haryana if not for its infighting. The Jat farming class has gifted these seats to the Congress because we did all the work in fighting the BJP. There was massive anger against the BJP in Haryana over the way the pleas of women wrestlers were unheard during their protest,” says Suresh Koth, president of the Haryana-based Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Union.
Koth says that ever since the protests against the three farm laws, the Jat community in Haryana had been antagonised by the BJP. Large number of Jats from Haryana had joined the farmer agitation. Later, the protests by wrestlers from the state against then Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had turned the community away from the BJP, which has been in power in Haryana for a decade.
“Last year, in the aftermath of the Nuh violence, when Hindutva groups were seeking the support of Jats, we had convened meetings of khap panchayats to send a message that Jats stand with Muslims and will not support communalism. Jats, Muslims and Dalits have voted against BJP in huge numbers in Haryana,” says farmer leader Koth.
Read all of The Wire’s reporting on and analysis of the 2024 election results here.
