Hoodas may gain from higher turnout in Rohtak, Sonepat

Sunit Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, May 13

A comparative analysis of the voter turnout in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Haryana reveals that the polling percentage has gone down in eight out of the 10 constituencies in the state but it has increased in Rohtak and Sonepat.

The Rohtak constituency, which recorded a voter turnout of 66.71 per cent in the 2014 General Election, has registered a turnout of 70.55 in the 2019 election. Similarly, the Sonepat constituency recorded a turnout of 69.61 per cent in the 2014 election and 70.72 per cent in the 2019 election.

Interestingly, while some political analysts feel that this augurs well for former Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son Deepender, who are contesting for the Sonepat and Rohtak seats, respectively, others maintain that there is no room for complacence for the Hoodas as the polling percentage has gone up, but only marginally.

“The increase in the voter turnout in the Rohtak and Sonepat parliamentary constituencies indicates that the politically conscious Jat voters have consolidated in the Jat heartland of Haryana and voted proactively in order to retain their ‘chaudhar’ and hold on to the state’s resources. This gives a distinct advantage to Hooda and Deepender in their respective constituencies,” observes Prof Rajender Sharma, head of the department of political science at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) in Rohtak.

On the other hand, noted political analyst and former professor of economics Dr Ram Kanwar points out that the voter turnout has increased in the two constituencies only marginally and the overall voting percentage of nearly 70 per cent does not hold much succour for the father-son duo.

“Had the voter turnout been at least 75-80 per cent, the Hoodas could have breathed easy. In the current situation, they can manage to scrape through the elections, but may not be able to register emphatic victories,” he maintains.

Dr Ram Kanwar says the Jat voters have consolidated more effectively in Sonepat as compared to Rohtak. “In Rohtak, the Hoodas have benefited a number of people, but there are many more who did not get any benefit and feel left out and jealous. Such disgruntled voters may upset the Hoodas’ applecart,” he observes.