Haryana hat-trick the aim, BJP bets on OBC consolidation after LS polls shock

Continuing with its welfare drive ahead of the Haryana Assembly elections, and with voters from Other Backward Classes (OBC) in mind, the BJP-led government has enhanced the OBC creamy layer annual income cap from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh and increased reservation for the backward classes in panchayats, municipal corporations, and municipalities.

At about 30%, OBCs account for the largest chunk of voters in Haryana, followed by Jats at nearly 25%, and Scheduled Castes (SCs) at about 20%. Aiming for a third consecutive term, the BJP has pinned its hopes on its existing strategy of providing sops to OBCs. The party’s strategy of enhancing its welfare schemes and rolling out more sops to communities across the state began after the Lok Sabha election results were announced on June 4, which saw the party losing five out of 10 parliamentary seats to the Congress. It was the ruling party’s worst performance in the Lok Sabha elections in the state in a decade.

The BJP snapped ties with the Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) in March and given that the Jat votes will now be divided between it, the Bhupinder Hooda-led Congress, and the Abhay Chautala-led Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), BJP leaders feel consolidating the other communities is a more prudent strategy. “In such a scenario, it would be politically advantageous for the party to consolidate all other communities, as the BJP needs just 38-40% of the total votes to form the government,” a senior BJP leader told The Indian Express.

To ensure that the party’s activities remain on track before the poll campaign officially begins, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has already made two quick visits to the state in the last fortnight, both of which saw announcements being