Vivek Yadav. parties. Despite a very high participation rate, the voter is not 'wedded' to a political party; the

Transcription

1 t+3 HARYANA: SOCIAL COALITIONS, POLITICAL STRATEGIES AND THE CAPTURE OF STATE POWER* Vivek Yadav Historically, Rajputs and Brahmins have been a dominantforce in several South Indian states and states of UP Bihar, Post independence, this trend has been bucked wherein democratic politics has seen the empowerment of the lower segments in these societies. This has not been the case with Haryana wherein democratic elections have converted the social dominance of the numerically preponderant middle level peasant castes especially the s in to their political control. Related to this is the story of the decline of Congress party in Haryana politics from the position of dominance it earlier enjoyed. Congress parq had emerged as the dominant player in Haryana electorat potitics immediateh,after Haryana attained statehood in 1966 and continuedto be so tilt 1977 when as a result of Janata wave, the Congress party was completely wiped out in the Lok Sabha elections in After 1977, there has been a steadl,decline in the Congress performance. The onl1, y*o exceptions to this trend being post Indira Gandhi assassination Lok Sabha elections and post Rajiv Gandhi assassination assembll' and Lok Sabha elections. The social support for political parties, class background for political parties, education background of party support and the parry) per-,formance in rural and urban areas further enables to understand better this kind of electoral politics in Haryana. Haryana is the odd man out in the state politics parties and a long term alignment of the different of North-India. While much of north-indian sections of the voters with their respective political parties. Despite a very high participation rate, politics has reflected the national political divisions and trends, Haryana was the first Hindiheartland state to develop a regional political relationship resembles that of a stock-broker with the voter is not 'wedded' to a political party; the pattern. Haryana politics did not develop a the companies listed on the share market. In its straight two party competition between the systemlessness, Haryana resembles the hill states Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of the Northeast like Meghalaya and Manipur. It that characterises most of its Hindi-speakingis this character that accounts for the sense of neighbours (Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and scandal, embarrassment or puzzlement that Rajasthan). Nor has it witnessed a sharp rise of informs much of the political analysis concerning Mandal and Dalit politics witnessed by its other Haryana. It is as if the lack of a system is marked large neighbour, Uttar Pradesh. To an outside by the lack of an explanatory framework. This observer, Haryana politics appears to be constituted by a series of absences. Underlying all these a framework that helps understanding this article is a modest attempto begin thinking about absences is a deeper lack: lack ofa coherent party apparently puzzling character of Haryana politics. system, Right from its constitution, this small state has not developed the attributes one associates with a party system: a stable structure of party competition, an enduring character of the This article argues that the combination of a unique social structure and a political history Vivek Yadav is a researcherworking the Lokniti programmeof the CSDS, Delhi. vivekyadavl6@rediffmail.com x This. paper is dedicated.to the memory of late Professor Pradeep Kumar, who taught state poliiics, at Punjab University, Chandigarh, to many generations of students. I am grateful to Prof Suhas Palshikar and Mr Yogendra Yadav for giving me the opportunity, to write this paper. This paper has gained enormously_from the comments,made by Mr Yogendra Yadav on an eariibr draft.-prof. V. B. Singh'^s careful reading has saved the paper from some potentially embarrassing moments. The paper has also benefited from thd comments and suggestions received d.qlng a pre_sentation.mgdg a seminar jointly organised by the Indian School of Political Economy and the D_epartment of Politics and Public Administration, University of Pune. I would like to acknowledge here the helir given by Bhaskar Jha, Himanshu Bhattacharyand Kanchan Malhotra of the CSDS, in the research for this*paper.

2 JOURNAL OF INDIAN SCHOOL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY JAN.-JUNE 2OO3 peculiar to the state accounts for the puzzling character of politics in contemporary Haryana. The main feature of this unique social composition is the absence of the dominance of traditional upper castes, like Brahmin and Rajput. Associated with this is the presence of a single caste,, which is a dominant caste in the state, not only numerically but also socially and politically. Another feature of the peculiar social structure of the state is the presence of a I. HARYANA: PROFILE Haryana, as a separate state, came into being on lst November 1966, after the reorganisation of Punjab on linguistic basis. The Hindi speaking areas of the parent state were separated from the Punjabi speaking areas, and were reconstituted as a new state of Haryana. The region comprising the present state of Haryana had lagged behind in terms of development when it was a part of the joint Punjab state [Nayar, 1966; Rai, 198]; substantial population of dalits and Other Backward Castes (OBCs), who have strong internal colonial administration systematically neglected Siwach, During the British period, the divisions. Although in recent times the state has agriculture in this region. While irrigation facilities were provided in other parts of Punjab by witnessed a rapid rate of urbanisation, this process does not have an autonomous character. The laying an extensive network of canals, not much major towns of the state have developed as was done to improve the irrigation facilities in this peripheries of the national capital. The process of region. A dry arid region without inigation facilities was considered beneficial for raising good urbanisation has not led to the creation of sharp class differences in the towns of the state. quality cattle. Also, a backward agriculture based economy ensured a continuousupply of soldiers The major characteristic of the peculiar to the British army [Chowdhary, 1994, Pp. political history of the state is the weak presence Haryana is a small state and has an area of the Congress party since pre-independenceof just 44,212 Sq. Km. According to the 2001 days. This weakness persisted even after the Census, it has a total population of lakh. creation of a new state in Although the The state has a literacy rate of 68.6 per cent, which Congress was able to win several elections in the is about three per cent higher than the national initial years in the absence of serious competition, the state never actually witnessed the 'one average. But, in spite of high literacy rate and per party capita income, by 2001 Haryana has earned the dominance' of the party. Whereas in other states dubious distinction of being the state with the of the country the entire party system took shape lowest sex ratio. It has a sex ratio of 861 females because of the presence of the Congress party, in per 1,000 males. Haryana is mainly a rural state Haryana the weakness of the Congress resulted with 7l per cent of its population living in in the fluidity of the whole party system. Historically, the Haryana region has been marked by sions, comprising l9 districts. In terms of political villages. Haryana has four administrative divi- the absence of strong political movements, which geography of elections, the state has 10 has resulted in the contemporary politics in the parliamentary and 90 assembly constituencies. state lacking a strong ideological basis. Coupled Out of these, two parliamentary and 17 assembly with this is the fact that the state has failed to constituencies are reserved for the Scheduled produce a strong regional leadership with a Castes. Earlier, the state used to have nine parliamentary and 81 assembly constituencies' but long-term vision for the state. All these factors combine to give shape to the contours of the their number was raised to the current level by the contemporary politics in the state. Delimitation Order of 1976.

3 vol. t5 Nos. t&2 HARYANA: SOCIAL COALITIONS, POLITICAL STRATEGIES.. II. SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY OF THE STATE In terms of social demography, the agriculturist castes constitute the largest group in Haryana society [Siwach, Table 1 gives the population of some of the major castes in the state according to Census of 1931, which was the last castecensus held in India. District Table l. Caste-wise Population of Districts of Haryana, 1931 Census Castes (percentage) (l) Hisar Rohtak Gurgaon Karnal Ambala (2) I Rajput (3) t t l Chamar Brahmin Bania (4) (5) (6) t I Meo (7) t Ahir (8) Source: Prem Chowdhry,The Veiled Women: Shrfting Gender Equutions in Rural Huryarut 1880-lgg0, Oxford University Press. Delhi In the aftermath of the partition of the country, Classes Commission of Haryana and the findings major changes took place in the demographic of the Confidential Survey (Black-Census) conducted by the government.l character of the state. There was large scale migration of the Muslims to Pakistan. Although the total population of Muslims in Haryana came Of these, the estimates given by the Backward down from per cent to 3.8 per cent in 195 I, Castes Commission and the 'Black Census' seem there was no significant decline in the population to be quite close but the 'Black Census' is more of the Meos (Muslims) of Gurgaon district. Their detailed and includes many castes, which the population in Gurgaon district came down to l7 Commission has not given. Secondly, this confidential survey compiled the figures at the per cent in 195 I from per cent in 193 I. During the same period, the population of the assembly constituency level as well, whichmakes Sikhs increased from 5.66 per cent to 8.8 per it more cent useful to us for our analysis of electoral politics. lchowdhry,1994]. Apart By making from the use of Sikhs, a large the constituency level number of Punjabi Hindu 'refugees' caste break-up of population, we have also divided came the to state into four regions (see Appendices-l settle down in the towns and of the 2), state. Most of the for purpose of analysis of electoral politics. These scholars working on Haryana politics [Siwach, regions are Rural-, Rural-South, Rural-North 1916; Singh, 1990; Sharma, have given and Urban. The first region consists of those 35 rough estimates of the population of different assembly constituencies, which have a high caste groups in the state. But sometimes there are concentration of population. Although the wide variations in the estimates given by these s, who are politically the most dominant caste different scholars, The table given below presents in the state, are scattered throughout the state, the estimated population of different caste groups, their main concentration is in the districts of according to three of the more reliable sources. Bhiwani, Jind, Sonipat, Rohtak, Jhajjar and Hisar. These sources not only give a more detailed This area is referred to as the land or the account of population of different caste groups heartland in journalistic writings. Apart from this but they also seem to be more accurate than other such estimates. These three sources are Ranbir Singh ll977l,the Report of the Second Backward core concentration of the caste, we encounter several dominated villages scattered throughouthe length and breadth of the state.

4 146 JOURNAL OF INDIAN SCHOOL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY JAN.-JUNE 2OO3 Table 2. Different Estimates of Caste-wise Population in Contemporary Haryana (percentage; Caste Category Name of Caste Ranbir Singh (1977) Backward Classes 'Black Census' (c.1995) (l) (2) (3) Commission (1990) (4) (s) Upper Castes Bania Brahmin Kayastha 'Punjabi'Hindus Other Upper Castes Total zio 5.0 ' I.-) Peasant Castes (Non OBC) Rajput Ror Total Peasant Castes (OBC-Group 'B') Ahir Gujjar Saini Bishnoi Total I I 1.6 OBC-Group'A' Kamboj Khati Kumhar Jhinwar Nai Other BCs Total Ll la t.a 6.9 t6.2 Scheduled Castes Chamar Balmiki Dhanak Mazbi Sikh Other SCs Total ,_o t9.4 Other Relisions Sikh/ Sikhx Meo/Muslimx* Total Grand Total Sources: Ranbir Singh, Government of Haryana, 1990 and 'Black Census', Note:* Whereas the Backward Castes Commission.has given the population of Sikhs, the Black Census has given the population of Sikhs. In the Black Census, some Sikh castes, like Lobanas and Rai Sikhs, are also concealed in the caregory of other Backward Castes. Ranbir Sing^has given the population of the Sikhs according to 1971 Census. The populatio"n of Sikhs, according to l99l Census, is 5.8 per cent. ** The Meos were put in the Other Backward Castes (Group-B) list in l995.whereas the Backward Castes Commission sives the population of the Meos, the Black Census. gives the population of all the Muslims. Ranbir Singh gives the populati6n of the Muslims according to the 1971 Census. The population of Muslims in Haryana, according to ttre tggt Cenius, is 4.6 per cent

5 vol. t5 Nos. 1&2 HARYANA: SOCIAL COALITIONS, POLITICAL STRATEGIES... Although it is very difficult to point out the exact position of the s in the traditi onal varna hierarchy, they claim for themselves the kshatriya status. In Haryana they enjoy the same social status as enjoyed by other peasant castes like Ahirs, Gujjars and Rors. There are close to two hundred gotras (sub-castes) amongst the s. Most of the members of a gotra live in a close cluster of villages, which is known as a khaap. These khaaps have traditional caste panchayats known as the khaap panchayat. At a larger level, the s of Haryana also have the Sarva Khaap Panchayat, which is a conglomeration of all khaap panchayats. These conventional caste panchayats The Rural-South region, which has 15 constituencies, has a high concentration of Ahirs and Meos apartfrom afew constituencies where some other castes like Gujjars are also important. The Ahirs or Yadavs, who are a middle level peasant caste, are concentrated in the Rewari, Mahendragarh and parts of the Gurgaon district. This region is popularly known as the Ahirwal region. The Ahirs are the main landowners in this area. They are a dominant caste within this region. Although recently they have been declared a backward caste in the state, but they have the kshatriya status in the caste hierarchy. Historically, these castes have suffered from some ritual and civic disabilities. They were not allowed to read the Vedas and were not entitled to the initiation rite of wearing the sacred thread. But they have tried to overcome these disabilities not only by claiming the kshatr,rya status and descent from Yadu dynasty but also by adopting Arya Samaj practices. The Ahirs of Haryana have the same social status as enjoyed by s and Gujjars. Meos, who are Muslims, are, concentrated in some parts of Faridabad and Gurgaon districts. This region is known as the Mewat region and it also extends into the neighbouring districts of enjoy considerable influence in deciding sociopolitical issues. At the time of elections, they play Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. They are mostly small and middle level farmers. They trace their a crucial role in influencing the voting choice of lineage from various Hindu Rajput clans and 'in the caste members fsingh, 1994]. spite of all theircontemporary "Islamisation", still consider themselves the descendants of Kisan- Kanhaiyaji and Raja Rama' fmayaram, l ggjl. They speak the Mewati dialect. The Rural-North region, which has 23 assembly constituencies, has a comparatively higher density of Scheduled Caste population. This region also has some constituencies, which have a large population of Sikhs. Apart from these two groups, in some constituencies of the region, other castes like Rajputs and Rors are also influential. Rors are a middle level peasant caste. The fourth region, i.e., the Urban region, which has 17 assembly constituencies, has a larger self-perception of being a kshatriya upper caste. population of the upper castes, like Punjabi According to M S A Rao [1979), Yadav is a Hindu, Brahmin and Bania. The Brahmins are category consisting of several allied castes, which involved in both, agriculture as well as modern together constitute about one-tenth of the total occupations. The Banias are basically traders but population of India. Two things are common to they also occupy important positions in the service sector. Most of the Punjabi Hindus came to all these castes. First, they claim to be the descendants of the Yadu dynasty fyadav] to Haryana at the time of partition of the country. which Lord Krishna belonged. Secondly, many Like the Banias, they are also involved in trade castes in this category have a set of occupations and services. They speak different variants of the centring round cattle. Rao argues that all these Punjabi language. They constitute about seven to castes were above the pollution line and belonged eight per cent of the population of the state and to either the intermediate or lower ranks of the are mostly located in the major urban constituencies/ towns of the state. Althoueh thev are clean Hindu castes. But all of them claimed a

6 JOURNAL OF INDIAN SCHOOL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY JAN.-JUNE 2OO3 linguistic group, in Haryana they are seen as a have the self-perception of being backward caste group. There are widespread prejudices castes. They could have provided leadership to prevalent against them in Haryana society [Madan, consider themselves as one of the backward the backward caste movement but they do not III. CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF castes. On the other hand, the old backward castes HARYANA POLITICS (Group-A), like Nai, Lohar, Sunar and Khati, etc., The distinctive character who of Haryana politics are 16 per cent of the total population of the in the 1990s lies in the fact that many of the salient state, are grossly under-represented in the political arena. Their average share of Member of the features of other north-indian states lose their salience in Haryana. Legislative Assembly (MLAs) is less than one per cent (Table 4). III.l. Absence of Mandalisation and Dominance of Middle Peasantrl' Politics in Haryanahas always been dominated by middle level dominant peasant castes, especially the, and this trend continues in the 1990s Haryana has not witnessed the upsurge of OBCs and dalits, which has been the characteristic feature of politics of states, like Uttar Pradesh historically the uppercastes like the Brahmins and as well. In states like Punjab and Haryana, and Bihar in recent decades. Because of the Rajputs have not been dominant. Historically, the absence of upper caste dominance in the state, the hold of the Brahminical ideology has been very Mandal/non-Mandal line is not drawn very weak in this entire region because of the sociocultural dominance of the peasant castes. And sharply in the politics of the state. Although Haryana has a substantial population ( I 9.7 per whatever status the Brahmins enjoyed earlier cent, Census of India, 1991b) of the Scheduled went down further with the spread of the Arya Castes, they have not been properly mobilised in Samaj movement among the peasantry especially politics and their vote is fairly fragmented. The the s, starting with the 1920s. With rhe adoprion major political party of the dalits, the BSP, which of Arya Samaj, the importance of life cycle rituals originated in the neighbouring state of Punjab and performed by the Brahmins declined considerably [Chowdhry, 1994,Pp In rhis enrire which is doing very well in another neighbouring state, Uttar Pradesh, is organisationally and region, democratic elections have converted politically very weak the in Haryana. Even after the social dominance of the numerically recent preponderant middle level peasant events of atrocities againsthe dalits in the state the party has not done castes into much mobilisational their political work. The process control. of identity In the formation case of Haryana, electoral politics among the dalits in Haryana is has still at a nascent consolidated the stage dominance of the agriculturist castes, especially the s. The s have fmurali Dhar, 2002]. Although Haryana has some 28 per cent population of the backward castes, the been the biggest beneficiaries of this process, state has not witnessed the kind of backward caste since they constitute the largest group among upsurge, which characterised the politics of Uttar these castes. They constitute something between Pradesh and Bihar in recent decades. The backward castes in the state are divided. The gov- of the state. They are the largest owners of 20 to 25 (Table 2) per cent of the toral population ernment itself has created two groups within the agriculturaland in the state. They are a dominant backward castes for the purpose of reservation. caste in Haryana in the sense M N Srinivas [1987] The powerful backward castes like Yadavs, defined the term. This caste has given the maximum number of chief ministers to the state (Table Gujjars and Sainis, who have only recently been included in the backward caste category,2 do not 3).

7 vol. 15 NOS. t&2 HARYANA: SOCIAL COALITIONS, POLITICAL STRATEGIES... Table 3. Chief Ministers of Haryana: Name (l) Party (2) Tenure (3) Caste (4) Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Rao Birendra Singh Bansi Lal Banarasi Das Gupta Devi Lal INC VHP INC INC JP I Nov March67 24March Nov 67 22May Nov 75 I Dec April 77 2l June June79 Brahmin Ahir Bania Bhajan Lal Bansi Lal Devi Lal Om Prakash Chautala Banarasi Das Gupta Om Prakash Chautala Hukum Singh Om Prakash Chautala Bhajan Lal Bansi Lal Om Prakash Chautala JP INC Lok Dal JD JD JD JD JD INC HVP INLD 29 June July 85 5 July June 87 l7 July Dec 89 2 Dec May 90 22May July July July 90 l7 July March 9l 22March l99l-6 April July l99l-9 May 96 I I May July 99 24July Bishnoi Bania Bishnoi Source: David Butler, etal., Indiu Decides: Elections Books and Things, New Delhi, 1995, and The maximum number of MLAs in the state Haryana and its influence has always been assembly have also come from this caste (Table restricted to some limited pockets of the state. 4). But the structure of social dominance in Unlike other Hindi states (Table 5), where the BJP Haryana is more complex than what appears on came into prominence the decades of the 1980's the surface. Although the upper castes, like the and the 1990's, in Haryana its fortunes dipped Punjabi Hindu, the Brahmins and the Banias, are further during the same period. And whatever still very entrenched in other sectors, like the vote the party has got in recent times is also higher government services (see, Appendix 3) dependento a large extent on its alliances with and education (see, Appendices 4 and 5), the regional parties. In fact, as becomes clear from peasant castes have come to dominate politically the table, the BJP has remained weak in the entire because of the logic of electoral politics. Among Haryana-Punjab region. One of the peasant the principal castes, the is the only caste which has a reasonable reasons for the poor performance degree of representation in of the the BJP is modern sectors like services and education. that unlike Apart other Hindi states, in Haryana the party from the, the other politically important has not been able to expand its social base. If we peasant castes in the state are Ahir, Gujjar, Saini, look at the social support of political parties, Bishnoi and Ror. according to the findings of the survey of Haryana assembly elections 2000 conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) III.2. Absence of Hindutva and the Consequent Rise of BJP Hindutva could never spread its wings in (Table 16), it becomes clear that the BJP has not been able to substantially mobilise any of the maior communities of the state in its favour.

8 t50 JOURNAL OF INDIAN SCHOOL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY JAN.-]UNE 2OO3 Table 4. Social Background of MLAs Caste t ( 1) (2) (3) 1912* 1971', 1982* 1987 (4) (s) (6) (1) l99l (8) 1996 (e) 2000 ( l0) Average Share (7o) (l l) Index of Representatlon (t2) Upper Castes Brahmin Bania Punjabi Hindu Total l2t tl 15 l0 ll ll t2 26 2t 9 ll t A /.) t75 l16 Peasant Castes Rajput Ror )1 '1 )6 232 ))) 29 J I )'7 )O 7) 313 2ll 27 J t.] t10 Peusant Custes (OBC-Group B) Ahir Saini Gujlar Bishnoi Meo (Muslim) Total (Peasant +Peasanr obc-b) 1 I I I 2 39 o ; I J ll t34 t t43 I t37 OBCs- Group A Kamboj Kumahar Jhinwar Khati Total Scheduled Castes sikh No Information Grand Total** ''- 8l l5 I 8l l-5 l5 66 t'1 l6 74 lt 1; 19 II 90 t] t] Notes: The above table is somewhat incomplete and is therefore only indicative of the overall trend. * For assemblies 19i2, l9'lj and l982.the original author gave the figures for MLAs in p-e1c_9ntqg9s as 28.4 per cent,_ 32.,2per cent and 30 per cent, respectively, which have been converted into the nearest exact numbers.-** He did notgive the caste backgiound of all the tralrs; that is why tlie total number of MLAs for these years is less than the total strength of the liouse, which was 8l in l9?2 and 90 in lgii and For the same reason, the average share and Index of Representation for some castes, like Brahmins, Banias, Sainis, and some others Sikhs. may have come down slightly. Source: For assemblies in 1967 and 1968, Siwach, For assemblies in 1912,1977 and 1982, Verma, For assemblies in I 987 and I 99 I, Sharma and Ramesh Kumar, I 992. For assemblies in 1996 and 2000, information gathered by the presenr aurhor from some sitting and former MLAs of Haryana assembly. Table 5. BJP/BJS Vote in Assembly Elections in Hindi States (f ) l.l A t2 t0 100 t8 Election Years (l) l t99t r Haryana* (2) Punjab* Himachal Pradesh** (3) (4) r BJP/BJS Y ote (7o) in Hindi States r Uttar Pradesh (s) l JJ.J Bihar (6) I Raj asthan (1) J ).2 Madhya Pradesh (8) 39. I Note: * Forassembly elections from 1952 to 1962 in Haryana and Punjab, the figures refer to the vote percentage of the Congress Party in the-haryanaregion of Punjab and rest of the state and not to the composite state of Punjab. Figur^es for thi rest of punjib for the year l9-52 cannot be given beca,use the Haryana region also included some ionstituencies from the er-stwhile state of PEPSU, which made it difficult to calculate neat figure for the rest of Punjab. ** The present state of Himachal Pradesh came into existence only in Source: Calculated from the Election Commission reports and V.B. Singh and Shankar Bose,

9 vol. t5 Nos. 1&2 HARY AN A : S O C I AL C O ALIT I ON S, P O LITI CAL STRAT E G I ES Not only is the party weak among the weak in comparison to its strength in other numerous peasant castes of the state, especially provinces. Prior to 1946,majority of the Muslims the s, it has also not been able to draw a major of the state and the Hindus in the rural areas of chunk of the votes from the upper castes of the Haryana, which was then apart of the joint Punjab state, which is the mainstay of its support in other state, voted for the Unionist Party. The Hindu states. Why the BJP has not been able to show a communalist parties cut deeply into the votes of good performance in Haryana, unlike other Hindi the urban Hindus. A majority of the Sikhs, on the states, is a substantial research question, which other hand, supported the Akali Dal [Nayar, still remains to be explored As a result, 'the Congress emerged after independence the Punjab as the weakest Congress organisation in any of the major Indian IIL3. Slow Decline of the Congress Haryana never witnessed the 'single regions'[brass, 1974). Although the party party improved its position in the state in the assembly dominance' of the Congress party. Even in the elections held from 1952 to 1962, its vote share pre-independence period the Congress party in the Haryana region was always less than the organisation in the joint Punjab state was very votes that it pot in the rest of the state. Table 6. Vote Share of Congress in Different Regions in Punjab Assembly Elections: Year of Election (l) t t962 Percentage of Votes in Overall Punjab (2) J. I Percentage of Votes in Haryana Region (3) Percentage of Votes in Rest of Punjab (4) Note: Figures for the rest of Punjab for the year 1952 cannot be given because the Haryana region also included some constituencies from the erstwhile state of PEPSU, which made it difficult to calculate neat figure for rest of Punjab. Source: Calculated from the Election Commission reports and Singh and Bose, By the time of the creation of the state, the 'one party dominance' phase of the Congress at the national level had already come to an end. Although in the absence of serious competition it could win several elections held in the first decade after the creation of the state, it began with a lower starting point in the state and subsequently when the decline came it was also not as dramatic as in some of the neighbouring Hindi states (Table 7). A cursory look at Table 7 makes it clear that amongst the Hindi states, the Congress Party, started with the lowest starting point in Haryana. In fact, we can see three clear patterns in the states listed in Table 7, as far as the performance of the Congress Party is concerned. The first is the case of states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where the party initially enjoyed a position of strength but with the rise of strong cleavage based parties in the 1980s, its decline started. And by the close of the 1990s, it has been reduced to a very insignificant level. In the second category are the states like Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where the Party is engaged in some kind of atwo party system with the BJP. In these states, the Party is still fairly strong and alternates in power with the BJP. The third case is that of states like Punjab and Haryana, where the Congress Party is in competition with strong regional parties. Specifically in the case of Haryana. where it faces competition from strong rural based regional parties, the Congress Party has declined somewhat from its earlier position. But it continues to be a major force in the electoral arena of the state drawing a significant degree of support from all the major communities of the state and

10 152 JOURNAL OF INDIAN SCHOOL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY JAN.-JUNE 2OO3 all geographical regions, retaining its 'catch all' the electoral arena of the state, the Congress is no character (Table 16). Although a major player in longer the 'natural party of governance'. Table 7. Congress Vote in Assembly elections in the Hindi States Election Years (t) 1952 t t96'7 l ',t2-74 t971 I I t99r I Haryanax (2) _1+.: t t].2 3't JJ. / zo.s Jt.: Punjabx (3) so.: 45.3 Jt.l Congress Y ote (Vo) in Hindi States Himachal Uttar Pradesh Pradeshx x (4) (5) ', ', ). I ; t Bihar (6) t I I to.z 11.1 Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh (7) (8) l.l 3l ; l Note: x For assembly_elections from 1952 to 1962 in Haryana and Punjab, the figures refer to the vote percentage of the Congress Party in the Haryana_rggion of Punjab and rest of the state and not to the composite state of Punjab. Figures for the rest of Punjab for the year 1952 cannot be given because the Haryana region also included some consiituencres from the erstwhile state of PEPSU, which made it difficult to calculate neat figure for the rest of Puniab. xx The present state of Himachal Pradesh came into existence only ii Source: Calculated from the Election Commission reports and Singh and Bose. Stue Elections in India: Dutu Hundbook on Vidhun Snbha Elections, , New Delhi, Sage, If we look at the social profile of Congress number of uncertain supporters in the state, voters in Haryana,duringthe lastl0years(table who sometimes vote for it and sometimes do 8), we find that the party has quite a substantial not vote. JJ.J q0.l 40-6 Table E. Social Profile of Congress Loyalists, Floaters and Opponents, 2002 Caste/Community (l) Upper Castes Other Peasant Castes Punjabi Khatri Other BCs Sikh Muslim SCs Others Always (7o) (2) 2l 1 1A 30 3l t2 JJ Sometimes (7o) Never (7o) Total Number (3) (4) Interviewed (N) (s) +L 36 -l -) 45 )t l5 2l 52 l0 ll 1A t41 JJ t )t I.182 Source: CSDS-NDTV Post Poll Survey of Haryana Assembly, Note: These responses came in answer to the question- How many times did you vote for the Congress during the past l0 years? 31

11 vol. t5 Nos. t&2 H A RY AN A : S O C I AL C O ALIT I O N S, P O LIT I C AL STRATEG I ES t53 The Party is weakest amongst the most numerous and politically most important caste of the state - the. The Sikhs of the state also do not seem to have much liking for the Party. Its support amongst the other peasant castes of the state is also somewhat uncertain. The detailed figures of the above survey suggesthat amongst the peasantry of the state, the Yadavs or the Ahirs form a somewhat more stable basis of support for the Party. The strong areas of the Party in the state are the SCs, the Muslims, the Puniabi Khatris and the OBCs. IIL4. Urbanisation without Urban Politics Haryana is essentially a rural state with a large majority of the population in the state living in the undivided Punjab state, the percentage of villages. According to the provisional figures of voter turnout in the Haryana region was higher the Census 2001, of the total population of than in the rest of Punjab. In the assembly elections of 1952, the voter Haryana, 7 per cent live in rural areas. Faridabad is turnout the most urbanise in district the Haryana of Haryana with 55.6 percent of its population living region was in the 57 per cent, while urban areas. in the whole of Punjab it was 55 per cent. Similarly, in the On the other hand Mahendragarh is the least urbanised with 86.5 per cent of its population living in the rural areas. But in recent times, the in Haryana is not a result of autonomous process of internal economic growth. Most of the process of urbanisation in Haryana has resulted because of the proximity of the state to the national capital. Although two industrial townships, namely Gurgaon and Faridabad, have sprung up in the vicinity of Delhi, it has not resulted in the creation of a strong local working class. Consequently, there is no visible working class politics in the state. III.5. High Level of Political Participation Haryana has a considerably high level of political participation. Even when it was a part of assembly elections held in l95l and 1962, while the voter turnout in the rest of Punjab was 56 per state has shown a marked trend towards urbanisation. In fact, it has overtaken the national rate 6l per cent and 67 per cent, respectively.3 After cent and 64 per cent, in the Haryana region it was of urbanisation during the last decade. The the creation of the new state, the turnout rate in percentage of urban population in Haryana has Haryana has always been higher than that in the goneup from24.6 percentin l99lto29 percent other Hindi states (Table 9). in The percentage of urban population in the country as a whole is 27.8 per cent. During In Table 9, given only Himachal Pradesh the period , the urban population of the shows a higher turnout state rate, has increased which by I 0.7 per cent could though be its total population increased by just 4.6 per explained by the cent special political during dynamics of a the same period. small hill state. All other Hindi states have lower turnout rates than Haryana. If we take participation in election meetings as an indicator of But this recent spurt of urbanisation in Haryana does not have much effect on politics. Unlike political participation, Haryana stands fairly states like Gujarat and Maharashtra, urbanisation higher than other Hindi states (Table 10).

12 JOURNAL OF INDIAN SCHOOL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY JAN..JUNE 2OO3 Tabfe 9. Voter Turnout in Vidhan Sabha Elections in the Hindi States: Election Years Voter Turnout (%) in Hindi States (1) Haryana* (2) Pun.;ab* Himachal Pradesh** (3) (4) Uttar Pradesh (5) Bihar (6) Ralasthan Madhya Pradesh (1) (8) t t r t99t '7 57.? , /u.: ' oit t.l : - / t.) t). I ',l l -')). / oi.s 58.2 )6. I )-).(., 59.0 oo.-s OJ. J oo.o Note: * For assembly elections from 1952 to 1962 in Haryana and Punjab, the figures refer to the vote percentage of the Congress Party in the-haryana.regron of Punjab and rest of the state and not to the composite state of Punjab. Figures for the rest of Punjab for the year 1952 cannot be given because the Haryana region also included some constituencies from the erstwhile state of PEPSU, which made it difficult to calculate neat figure for the rest of Punjab. ** The present state of Himachal Pradeshcame into existence only in Source: Calculated from the Election Commission reports and Singh and Bose, Table 10. Participation in Election Meetings in Different States State Assembly Elec- Those who attended an elec- Total Numlrons tion meeting (%) ber Intervie wed (N) (i) (2) (3) Haryana 2000 Bihar 2000 Hrmachal2003 Uttaranchal 2002 Uttar Pradesh 2002 Punjab l Source: Post Poll Surveys conducted by the CSDS. 1,182 ) ))\ ,334.t46 Even here higher rates of participation in Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh are largely because of their special character as small hill states. From the above two Tables 9 and 10, it becomes obvious that the level of political participation in Haryana is even higher than that in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where great deal of political churning has taken place in recent years. Compared to these two states, the political climate in Haryana appears quite placid, despite a higher turnout rate. III.6. Low Level of ldentification with Political Parties and Fluid Terrain of Politics Politics in Haryana lacks a strong ideological basis. Both, voters as well as leaders, have a very low level of long-term identification with political parties. It is very common to see politicians changing parties in different elections just to win elections and stay in power anyhow. Similarly, voters also do not have long-term commitment to political parties. They have greater loyalty to leaders and factions identified with those leaders. Commenting on this aspect of Haryana politics, Baldev Raj Nayar observed long time back [ 1966] that 'Loyalties in Hariana (sic) tend to be more candidate-oriented than issue-oriented or partyoriented'. Analysing the specific nature of the party system in the Haryana-Punjab region, Paul Wallace t19851 writes that in the political discourse of this region, there are two usages of the term party (pronounced as Pa Rtii). The first is the conventional usage, where the term is employed for established political parties, like the Congress and the Janata Party. But there is a second more interesting usage of the term party, when it is used to refer to factions identified with individual political leaders, as Rao Birendra Singh's party or Devi Lal's party. These factions are of a considerably durable character and they

13 VOL. I5 NOS- I&2 H A RY AN A : S O C I AL C O ALI T I ON S. P O LIT I CA L ST RAT EG I ES align with different recognised political parties, Table 1 l, we have tried to measur empirically at the time of elections, to bargain for greater the level of voters' identification with political number of seats. People in this region have greater parties in the Hindi states with the help of survey data collected during the post-poll survey of identifications with these factions led by powerful National Elecrion Study (NES) 1996, conducred leaders than with proper recognised political by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. parties. Table 11. Do You Feel Close to Any Political Partv? State (l) Haryana Punjab Himachal Pradesh Uttar Pradesh Bihar Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh Yes (7o) (2) ll 38 tt JJ 2 2l No (7o) (3) Total Number Interviewed (N) (4\ t, All India JI 9,6t4 Source: Post Poll Survey of NES, 1996 conducted by CSDS. As Table 1 I suggests, a low level of voters' results in an atmosphere of considerable political identification with political parties is apan-indian fluidity. This political fluidity manifests itself in phenomenon. Barring some states like Keralaand the following ways - lack of long term identification of voters with political parties, existence West Bengal, which have very sharp ideological polarisation, most other Indian states have a of personalised political formations (factions) generally low level of voter identification with which are many times no more than a mask for political parties. A slightly higher than the aggregation of caste interests, open-ended relationship of leaders with political parties which nationalevel of identification in states,like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab, is because of some results in a high degree of propensity to defect specific reasons. During the last decade, both and a high degree of volatility of seats. As a result Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have witnessed the rise of all this, many times a single issue results in of caste-based parties, which command a great short-lived electoral waves, and political deal of loyalty from their caste supporters. In the upheavals caused by such waves do not result in case of Punjab, a higher rate of identification may far reaching changes of systemic character. be explained by the presence of a religion-based party namely the Akali Dal, which commands III.7. Evolution of the Culture of Political Market considerable degree of support from the Sikhs. Place Amongst the Hindi states, Haryana stands at the lowest rung of voters' identification with parties. This high level of political participation and the lack of long term identification of voters with established political parties result in a highly charged but very fluid terrain of politics. There is an intense competition for power but it is not structured along solid ideological lines. This Due to various historical reasons, Haryana could not develop a healthy political culture imbued with some amount of idealism. On the contrary, the state has evolved a culture of political market place, which is not constrained by ideology or organisational norms. The following are some of the reasons responsible for this: Due to the impact of the Unionist Party of

14 JOURNAL OF INDIAN SCHOOL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY JAN..JUNE 2OO3 Sir Chotu Ram, which was pro-british in character, the Congress-led freedom movement could ministry by including MLAs from most of the Dayal Sharma formed a fairly representative not gain much ground in this region. This major castes, he did not deliberately include the deprived the region of some of the idealist vision important leaders of these castes, like Devi Lal associated with this movement. Similarly, this and Sri Chand (s), Rao Birendra Singh (Ahir), region also did not benefit from many of the Chand Ram (SC) and Mani Ram Godara (Bishnoi). reform movements, which took place in some other parts of the country. Although the Arya Samaj movement had some impact in this region, This government lasted for only 13 days. A even in this case the traditional Gurukul wing of group of 13 MLAs led by Devi Lal and Rao the movement was more influential in this region Birendra Singh defected from the government. than its modernising DAV wing [Chaudhry, After this, an SVD government under the chief Because of its proximity to Delhi, many ministership of Rao Birendra Singh assumed small towns developed in the state but it did not office on 24 March But the game of lead to the development of an urban culture and defections continued even after this and in all the formation of a secular rational middle class, about 32 members defected. This government which could have led to the development of a remained in office for about eight months, after higher level of political consciousness. The state which the governor, faced with the prospect of did not witness a healthy left movement, which continuing defections, imposed President's rule imbued the youth in many other parts of the in the state. In the mid-term polls of 1968, the country with radical idealism and ultimately Congress once again won the majority. Now, the raised the level of political consciousness. Congress High Command appointed a relatively Because of rampant political interference and the new leader, Bansi Lal, impact as the of the worst kind chief minister. of casteism in the This time Bhagwat Dayal universities Sharma of the state, a rational secular defected intelligentsia could not develop. from theparty along with All these factors l5 MLAs. have A4l member SVD led to the creation was of a formed stunted political to dislodge the Bansi Lal government. But they failed in their attempts and consciousness in the state. some IV. ELECTORAL POLITICS IN HARYANA: 1967-E7 IV.l. Initial Turbulence: Politics of Aya Ram, Gaya Ram or the logic of democratic politics? Immediately after the creation of the new state, a Congress government took over power in Haryana. Bhagawat Dayal Sharma, the then Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief, was appointed the first chief minister of the new state.4 At that time, the Congress legislature of defectors came back to the Congress fold. This game of defections and counter defections earned Haryana the notoriety for giving the term Aya Ram and Gaya Ram. The politics of the state came to be seen as nothing more than a corrupt and opportunistic exercise in defections. But the defections of this period symbolised something more than the apparent political opportunism and fluid identification of leaders with political parties. The leaders of the dominant party had 46 members in a house of 54. Out of caste groups in the state were trying to get their these, 22became ministers. The first elections to share in the political cake. These were mainly the Haryana assembly were held in February leaders from the numerically dominant agricultural castes. They were not ready to accept the 196l.In this election, the Congress won 48 seats in a house of 81. Bhagwat Dayal Sharma again leadership of a Brahmin. The logic of democracy became the chief minister. Although Bhagwat was taking its natural course"

15 vol. t5 Nos. t&2 HARYANA: SOCIAL COALITIONS, POLITICAL STRATEGIES... t57 1V.2. High Points of Electoral Politics ( ) of partition, and some sections of the Bania communities living in the urban areas [Singh, The central theme of the electoral politics of Another major player in this period was Haryana during the 20 year period from 1967 to the Vishal Haryana Party (VHP). The VHP was 1987 is the steady decline of the Congress party. floated by the influential Ahir leader, Rao Although the Congress party was never as dominant in Haryana as in some of the South Indian to consolidate his support base with the political Birendra Singh, after leaving the Congress Party, states like Karnataka, still in the absence of slogan of forming a larger Haryana by merging serious competition, could win all elections held some parts of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh with from l96l to 1912.Its vote share in the elections the existing Haryana state. It won a substantial held in this period was always more than 40 per number of 16 seats and 14.9 per cent votes in the cent. It won 48 seats in both the assembly elections of 1967 as well as the mid-term polls of elections, the number of its seats was reduced to 1968 assembly election. By the time of , in a house of 8 I. And despite the dramatic five, falling mainly in the Ahirwal region of the game of defections and counter defections that South Haryana. After some time, Rao Birendra took place after the 196l elections, its vote share Singh merged his party with the Congress [yadav, N.D.l. went up by more than two per cent from 41.3 per cent to 43.8, between these two elections. In the elections to the state assembly held rn 1972, rts The real decline of the Congress started after vote share further increased by three per cent to the 1977 elections. As a result of the Janata wave reach46.9 percent. It won 52 seats in this election. throughout the North India, the Congress was The better performance of the Congress in this completely wiped out in Haryana in the Lok election can be explained by the fact of a general Sabha elections of 1977.It could not win a single wave in favour of the Congress Party in the wake seat and secured just 18 per cent votes. In the of the 1971 Bangla Desh war. Another factor assembly elections held in the same year, it could responsible for this was the large scale development work undertaken by the Bansi Lal govern- share of 17.2 per cent. The Janata Party won all win only three seats with an insignificant vote ment in the period from 1968 to And, mosr the 10 Lok Sabha seats and 75 seats in the importantly, there was no viable alternative to the assembly. In the Lok Sabha election of 1980, the Congress Party in the electoral politics of the Congress recovered somewhat by winning five state. In the Lok Sabha elections of 1967 and seats and 32.6per cent votes. Continuing the trend 197l, the Congress Party won seven out of nine of political fluidity, which was instituted right seats. The Lok Sabha elections of 1971 saw the afterthe formation of the state, the Bhajan Lal-led Congress winning a majority of votes for the first Janata government in the state switched over to time in the electoral history of the state by scoring the Congress Party, after the latter's good performance in the 1980 Lok Sabha elections at the 52.6 per cent of the votes polled. nationalevel. As a result, the Congress Party was The Jan Sangh also had a visible presence in in power at the time of next round of assembly this period, although its vote share declined from elections held in 1982.In the assembly elections 14.4 to 6.5 per cent from 1967 to 1972 assembly of 1982, although the Congress did emerge as the elections. It won a sizeable number - l2 seats - in single largest part), its vote share was less than the 1967 elections, which came down to just two 40 per cent. In this election, the Lok Dals of Devi seats by the time of 1972 elections. The support Lal emerged as a major force by winning 31 seats base of the Jan Sangh was basically restricted to the Punjabi 'refugees', and a substantial 23.9 per cent votes. Although who came here at the time the Congress did not have a clear majority in the