The BJP did not defeat just the Congress in Haryana, but 10 years of anti-incumbency, perceived Jat anger, and assumed farmers’ frustration. While the post mortem of the party’s surprise win in the state will continue, given that no exit poll had predicted the victory, what is beyond any debate is the role of back-room leaders who steered the party, formulating strategies and holding smaller meetings among predictions of a Congress sweep.
Dharmendra Pradhan
If anyone should be credited for BJP’s surprise Haryana win, it should be Dharmendra Pradhan whose name often does the rounds as the next BJP national president. Pradhan is credited with scripting a photo-finish victory in Odisha, his home state, by painting Tamil IAS officer-turned-politician VK Pandian as an “outsider”, apart from raising questions about the health of then chief minister Naveen Patnaik and subtly insinuating that it is at risk at the hands of Pandian. Both campaigns proved to be electorally beneficial for the BJP.
For Pradhan, it was a Déjà vu moment when he was asked to oversee the Haryana election — his second stint in the state. Pradhan, who won the Sambalpur seat by a margin of over 1,00,000 votes this time, was the right mix of calm and firm. Senior BJP leader Anil Vij had a glimpse of the latter when he said he too is a claimant to the top job.
Instead of holding large gatherings by helicopter, Pradhan travelled across the state by car, organising small meetings. Known for his exceptional organisational skills, and often referred to as Modi’s ‘Ujjwala Man’, Pradhan preferred micromanaging and real-time feedback across Haryana. The man who played a crucial role in successfully handling the NET-NEET paper-leak controversy took a calculated risk of replacing several senior leaders with fresh and more widely acceptable candidates.
Satish Poonia
Rajasthan BJP’s ex-president is the Haryana state in-charge of the BJP. But there’s more to it. Poonia lost the Rajasthan election which created sympathy among Jats. The BJP leadership, which was facing a tough time convincing the Jats of Haryana, sensed an opportunity — in PM Modi’s words, BJP saw “Aapda mein avsar”.
Poonia’s political career started with ABVP and he worked his way up to become the BJP chief of Rajasthan. He was the brain behind keeping Babita Phogat as BJP’s counter to Vinesh Phogat to battle her volley of allegations after her political plunge. In spite of ill health, he kept visiting the BJP war room, as if with a sense to deliver that he failed to in Rajasthan.
Poonia was elected MLA from Amer seat in the 2018 assembly elections in Rajasthan. Even his detractors admit that his stature has gone up quite a few notches after this election. A person who prefers to stay away from the limelight, who understands ‘sangathan’ and can take opposing parties together — if BJP has made inroads in the Jat land of Western Haryana amid presumed Jat anger, much of its credit goes to Poonia along with other factors.
Biplab Deb
The former Tripura chief minister silently worked as BJP’s Haryana election in-charge. For the last two years, with fewer television interviews and certainly even fewer rallies, Deb kept implementing the BJPs plan.
Reaching out to a cross-section of communities — Dalit, Jatav, Valmiki, Dhanak, Bishnoi, and Sikh — over the last two years seems to have paid off. Deb often used Chai Pe Charcha — a reach-out weapon employed by PM Modi in 2014 — to reach out to a cross-section of voters in smaller numbers.
Deb is also credited with poaching a series of MLAs of ally JJP, creating a rift with the government. Former minister Devender Babli, apart from Sanjay Kablana, and Sunil Sangwan are some of the many names who joined the BJP from the JJP, which ultimately left it weakened and easy to run over for the BJP.
The gym instructor-turned-politician is now breaking former allies of the BJP to ensure a smooth run for the party.
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