Bhiwani-Mahendergarh MP Dharambir not inducted into cabinet, supporters dejected
Dharambir Singh had defeated Congress’s Rao Dan Singh by a margin of 41,510 votes in the Lok Sabha polls, results for which were announced on June 4
The supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Bhiwani-Mahendergarh MP Dharambir Singh were disgruntled after he was not inducted into the Union cabinet. Singh won from the Bhiwani-Mahendergarh seat for the third consecutive term and he is the only Jat MP from the BJP in Haryana among five MPs.
Dharambir Singh had defeated Congress’s Rao Dan Singh by a margin of 41,510 votes in the Lok Sabha polls, results for which were announced on June 4. In the previous two parliamentary polls of 2019 and 2014, he had defeated Congress’s Shruti Choudhry, grand-daughter of former Haryana chief minister Bansi Lal. He won Haryana assembly polls four times, out of which three times were on Congress’s ticket. He also became minister in Haryana government on three occasions.
Naveen Sheoran, a BJP worker from Loharu assembly segment in Bhiwani-Mahendergarh seat said that his supporters were disappointed after Dharambir Singh was not given a chance in the union cabinet even after winning three consecutive polls.
“He is the only BJP candidate who managed to win the parliamentary election in Haryana where Jats have an influential hold. The BJP has given representation to Gujjars, Ahirs and Punjabi community by inducting Krishan Pal Gujjar, Rao Inderjit Singh and Manohar Lal respectively into Modi’s cabinet and the sole Jat MP from the BJP in Haryana was denied a place in the cabinet,” he added.
Jat constitute around 26 to 28% of the state’s population and they remained the influential group. The BJP has lost three Jat dominated parliamentary constituencies- Rohtak, Sonepat and Hisar but Singh managed to win Bhiwani-Mahendergarh, where Jats and Ahir are dominating voters.
Retired political science professor Anant Ram said that the Jat community was expecting a berth for Dharambir Singh but he could not fulfil other criteria.
“The BJP has trailed in most of the Jat dominated assembly segments and they lost Jat dominated parliamentary seats- Rohtak, Hisar and Sonepat. So the BJP’s focus is to consolidate non-Jat voters. All the key positions from chief minister to Union ministers from Haryana are represented by non-Jat leaders. The BJP has sent a clear signal that they will focus on consolidation of non-Jat voters. Dharambir was also not inducted because he has worked in INLD and Congress for a long time and left the parties for his own political benefit. The BJP knows his functioning and the BJP has not forgotten his mistake to field his brother Rajbir Singh as an independent against the party candidate in the 2014 assembly polls from Tosham,” he added.
Despite repeated attempts, BJP MP Dharambir Singh could not be reached for a comment.
