Beyond the Jat, Dalit regions, Congress also gains in other parts of Haryana
In the 17 seats reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Castes (SC), the Congress has won seven, a gain of three seats over 2014. The BJP’s tally has gone down from nine to five.
The Congress’ gains in Haryana -- the party won 30 seats, compared to 15 in the 2014 assembly elections -- are broad-based, coming from areas dominated by Jat and Dalit voters, and also from other parts of the state.
According to a database compiled by Trivedi Centre for Political Data (TCPD) at Ashoka University, there are 47 seats spread across 11 districts – Karnal, Panipat, Sonipat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Rewari, Palwal, Jind, Fatehabad, Sirsa and Hisar – in the state that are dominated by Jats and Jat-Sikhs.
The Congress won 19 out of the 47 seats this time, seven more than what it did in the 2014 assembly elections.
The BJP’s tally in these constituencies, declined very marginally, from 19 to 18. It is the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) which is the biggest loser in the Jat dominated regions of the state. INLD held 13 out of the 47 seats in 2014. This has come down to 1.
The Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), a splinter group of the INLD, has won seven seats. Arithmetic shows that the INLD’s seats have probably been split between the Congress and the JJP, depending on whichever party stood a better chance of winning.
In the 17 seats reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Castes (SC), the Congress has won seven, a gain of three seats over 2014. The BJP’s tally has gone down from nine to five. Such constituencies normally have a higher share of Dalit voters. To be sure, some of the SC reserved seats can also be a part of the Jat- or Jat-Sikh dominated constituencies.
Together, gains in the Jat-dominated constituencies and those reserved for SCs account for two-thirds of the Congress’ gains (in terms of seats) this time. The other six have come from other constituencies.
