This Article is From Oct 23, 2014

Haryana: Caste For Jobs; Can the RSS Leader Deliver?

(Anchal Vohra is a Chief Correspondent with NDTV 24x7)

A clean image, love for the RSS, a celibate life; similarities between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the man he has chosen to lead Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar.

In 1996, the two worked together for the first time to strengthen the BJP  in Haryana, succeeding 18 years later. Khattar is also the first non-Jat chief minister in Haryana after a gap of 18 years.

But is the 60-year-old Sangh sevak the right choice to lead Delhi's neighbour?

While covering the campaign, I caught up with Captain Abhimanyu, the Jat frontrunner, to get an insight into what he would do for the state if chosen for the post of the chief minister.

His focus seemed to be on the economy. "If India has to achieve a higher growth rate, at least 12-15 states need to perform extremely well. Haryana is one of them. We have a lot of work to do."

In the final selection, youth has lost out to experience.

Khattar had contested his first election from Karnal and won by an impressive margin of 60,000-plus votes.

A high-ranking RSS member, he was clearly fielded in this election with something in mind. That he becomes the chief minister was perhaps the idea right from the beginning.

The victory may have been simpler than the journey that lies ahead - a non-Jat at the helm of affairs in a state dominated by Jats, the largest single chunk of voters.

Over the last month, as I travelled in the cities and villages of Haryana, I learnt the state votes on the basis of caste and clan, but that would be a highly simplistic reading of Haryana's changing reality.

"Chawdhrahat Rohtak ko denge": Depending on where you are, the name of the city would change, but not the meaning. Chowdhry, as Jats in villages refer to their chief minister, should be from their area. Why?

"Baccho ko naukri milegee, kuch kaam banegaa hamara (only then will our children get jobs, he will do something for us)."

As people from one village sing praises of a leader, inhabitants of another would curse him for "bhai-bhateejavaad" - in this context, giving preference to relatives and people from his locality for jobs.

The deciding factor, as I read, was employment and development and not caste. Caste was just the facilitator.

This gives the BJP a real chance at change.

As the size of land holdings reduce, families grow and more and more students attend college and training in vocational courses, Haryanvis are looking for well-paying jobs.

Turning Modi's magic into magic for the people would mean jobs, planned development and fair prices of land for farmers.

If Khattar can come up with a plan to deliver on these fronts, caste may turn irrelevant.

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