October is a time of transition for the Jats in Haryana: the landed community prepares to harvest their crops. The day starts at dawn, with men walking out to the fields and women to hand pumps. Afternoons are reserved for hookah and siesta, evenings are for taking care of their cattle.
But as the state goes to Assembly polls on October 21, a political transition beckons the Jat community. In 2014, in large part due to the Jat support, the Bharatiya Janata Party swept the election and formed the government under Manohar Lal Khattar, the first non-Jat chief minister of Haryana in around 18 years. Now, though, the party seems to have fallen out of favour with the Jat community.
