Caste, loyalty Congress’ top criteria for candidates

Gurgaon: Caste combination, winnability and loyalty to the party appear to be the most important factors for Congress in deciding its candidates to the prestigious Gurgaon and Faridabad Lok Sabha seats. The candidates for both constituencies, represented by Union ministers in the Modi government, were announced by the party late evening on Saturday, along with names for four other seats in the state.
This was reflected in the party’s choice of Capt. Ajay Yadav, the former Haryana finance minister who has been a member of the state legislative assembly for six consecutive terms, as its candidate for the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat, overlooking claims of former transport minister Aftab Ahmed and former chief parliamentary secretary Rao Dhan Singh, who were also seeking the ticket from this seat.

Party insiders said being an Ahirwal, the dominant caste in Gurgaon Lok Sabha constituency, and also the senior-most contender, Capt. Yadav scored over his rivals, even though around 25% of the electorate, mostly in Mewat, are Muslims. They contended that Ahmed’s candidature risked polarisation on religious lines, while former Mahendergarh MLA Rao Dhan Singh, considered close to former chief minister and state co-ordination committee chief Bhupinder Singh Hooda, may have lost the race because he is an outsider to the area.

Congress also chose Tigaon MLA Lalit Nagar, a Gurjar, over Palwal MLA Karan Dalal, a Jat, for the Faridabad seat, since the party has already fielded two Jat candidates — Deepender Hooda from Rohtak and Shruti Chaudhary from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh. The candidate for the Sonipat Lok Sabha seat, which is yet to be announced, could also be decided in favour of a Jat. Besides, the majority of the population in Faridabad Lok Sabha are Gurjars, though twice — in 1998 and 1999 — it has been represented by BJP’s Jat leader Ram Chander Bainda.

Former Faridabad MP Avtar Singh Bhadana, who returned to Congress fold a few weeks ago, was also among the probables from this seat, but he scored low on the loyalty factor, having quit the party soon after his defeat in 2014 to join BJP. He was also with Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) for a brief period.

Of the nine Assembly constituencies under the Faridabad Lok Sabha seat, three each are held by BJP and Congress. In Gurgaon Lok Sabha constituency, six of the nine Assembly constituencies are held by BJP and none by Congress.

Capt. Yadav, however, expressed confidence his party would make a comeback in Gurgaon in 2019, since the people had seen through BJP’s false promises; and unlike 2014, there was no “Modi wave” this year.

The two other seats for which Congress announced its candidates are Kumari Selja from Ambala and Ashok Tanwar from Sirsa.