Sulking Selja, BJP quota move: Did Cong lose dalit plot?

Rohtak: The question whether the dalit vote swung in favour of Congress in the Haryana assembly elections — like it did during the Lok Sabha elections—remains unanswered.
During the poll campaign, BJP targeted Congress for being a “bapu-beta” (father-son) party, referring to Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Deepender Singh Hooda, accusing it of sidelining senior leader Kumari Selja who had been projected as a potential chief ministerial candidate if the party won.
Selja’s initial reluctance to engage actively in the campaign, following the allocation of tickets that favored Hooda loyalists over her own supporters, sent ripples through the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. Jitender Kumar, a sociologist from Rohtak’s MDU, noted that the BJP’s strategy to divide the SC vote by splitting the SC quota in govt jobs played a significant role in this election. The Haryana State Commission for Scheduled Castes had recommended that half of the 20% reservation for SCs in govt jobs be allocated to deprived SCs, comprising 36 castes such as Balmikis, Dhanaks, Khatiks, and Mazhabi Sikhs. Kumar explained that this move appeared to benefit BJP, unlike during the Lok Sabha elections. He added that Selja’s veiled criticism of her own party leaders, particularly Hooda, sent a negative signal to the SC community.
On the other hand, Congress seemed overly confident about anti-incumbency against BJP. Kumar argued that Congress’s top leadership in Delhi believed the tide was already in their favor, leading to a less aggressive campaign. Rahul Gandhi, he said, missed crucial campaign days in Haryana, assuming the party had an advantage. Moreover, the internal rift between Selja and Hooda, which hurt the SC voter base, was not addressed promptly. The last-minute return of Ashok Tanwar to the party was seen as an attempt to patch things up, but Kumar believes it came too late to make a difference.
Congress and BJP won 5 seats each during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.