Ahead of next year’s parliamentary and State polls, the ruling BJP has stepped up preparations to retain all the 10 Lok Sabha seats and return to power in Haryana. State party president Om Prakash Dhankar spoke about efforts to go to the polls with the backing of a strong organisational set-up, the future of its alliance with the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), and the political repercussions of the farmers’ movement. Edited excerpts:
How has the party’s organisational set-up changed since you were appointed the State BJP president in July 2020?
When I joined the BJP in 1996, the party had organisational units at the State and district levels. The mandals were set up only in urban areas and their meetings were not held on a regular basis. Today, we can organise a meeting of office-bearers of 311 mandals in a day. Shakti Kendra, comprising five booths, is a reality and we have 4,400 well-organised units. We are now appointing panna pramukhs (person in charge of a page in the electoral rolls) and the process will be completed by next month. We will then have information on the name, caste, mobile number and profession of around five lakh workers on the party’s Saral app.
Will the BJP contest elections in Haryana in alliance with the JJP?
The 2019 Assembly polls resulted in a hung Assembly and a coalition was forged to form the government. The alliance was not formed to contest polls. There is one year to go for the elections, no decision has been made on this yet. We want to strengthen our party, they [the JJP] are also doing the same.
The BJP’s slogan in 2019 was ‘Abki Baar 75 Paar’, but it failed to cross the majority mark of 45. Will there be a different strategy this time?
That was a mere slogan. This time, we will target a definite number like [Gujarat BJP chief] C.R. Paatil did. The party had appointed panna pramukhs in Gujarat. I am doing this too.
How do you counter the Opposition’s accusation that the BJP-JJP alliance is running a government of scams?
There are two ways of doing things: hiding the problem or addressing it. Instead of trying to hide the issue of Anil Nagar [Deputy Secretary, Haryana Public Service Commission, who was involved in a cash-for-jobs scam], we got him arrested. The people of the State, even the officers, admit that jobs are now given on merit.
Is there truth to the Opposition’s claim that there are no jobs in Haryana and the State has the highest rate of unemployment?
They have made this claim by citing data from a private agency. In reality, Haryana provides employment to people across the country. Over four lakh agricultural workers come to the State every year to earn a living. The industries also offer employment. We have given 1.05 lakh government jobs so far and 50,000 more openings will be announced soon. Entrepreneurship among the youth is also growing.
How much political damage has the farmers’ movement caused to the State party unit?
The BJP has done its best for the farmers, but people who claim to be farmer leaders are scared about losing the farmer vote bank to the party. The Congress today seeks ₹40,000 as compensation for damaged crops, but the party itself gave cheques for ₹2.5. Farmers are happy with us, but farmer leaders are angry.
