Ladwa’s High Stakes Caste Battle: CM Nayab Singh Saini Vs MLA Mewa Singh

Ahead of Haryana’s assembly polls, all eyes are on Kurukshetra district’s Ladwa assembly constituency, where heavyweights battle for the seat. With Chief Minister and BJP leader Nayab Singh Saini and Congress MLA Mewa Singh in the fray, the fight for the seat remains on navigating the crucial OBC votes: Jat and Saini.

Once a lesser-known constituency, Ladwa has emerged as a key battleground with a caste-driven political fight between the two parties vying for the Saini and Jat votes, each community comprising a voting strength of 40,000.

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Considered to be the “safest” seat among the three constituencies (Radaur and Naraingarh), with the majority population being Saini, the chief minister is contesting his fifth election from the fourth constituency.

Ladwa is an interesting seat because no political party has won it twice.

The saffron party has placed its faith in Ladwa, which was also part of the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency represented by Saini in 2019.

Following his brutal defeat in the 2009 assembly polls from Naraingarh as a BJP candidate, Saini emerged victorious from the same in 2014. He again won in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Kurukshetra and later achieved victory in the Karnal by-election in May.

From serving as the president of the BJP’s Harayana unit in October 2023 to becoming the chief minister of the state five months later, Saini has witnessed a significant rise in his political career. Despite contesting from different constituencies, the BJP leader has not lost yet.

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However, the electoral race to victory in Ladwa is not so easy for Saini, thanks to Congress’ Mewa Singh.

The incumbent Congress MLA won the Ladwa seat in 2019 with a margin of roughly 12,637 votes, surpassing the BJP’s Pawan Singh, who won 45,028 votes. Singh also has an advantage over Saini, who faces strong anti-BJP waves in the state following the farmers’ protest.

Interestingly, things appear difficult for the Congress leader as well. With Sapna Barshami, from the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), also in the fray, things could appear difficult. Barshami, a Jat leader, is also the daughter-in-law of former INLD chief and former Ladwa MLA Sher Singh Barshami. She was also convicted in the 2013 recruitment scam along with close friend and former chief minister O.P. Chautala. Singh, a Jat leader himself, could witness a divide in the Jat votes, impacting the Congress MLA’s chance of winning.

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) nominated Jaga Singh, and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) fielded Vinod Sharma. Sandeep Garg, an ex-BJP leader now running as an independent, belongs to the Baniya community and could potentially impact the BJP’s vote bank.

While both the Congress and the INLD fight for the Jat support, a dominant group in Ladwa, the BJP relies on the non-Jat vote bank, specifically the OBC and upper caste Baniyas and Brahmins.

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With both PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah conducting rallies in Kurukshetra and Ladwa, respectively, Saini has a solid backing by the central leadership, something that the Congress MLA lacks. At the same time, Singh made up for it by extensively campaigning in all the villages while his opponent has been occupied with campaigning in the 90 constituencies in the state.

The people of Ladwa complain of inflation, unemployment, and a bypass road that was promised but not delivered. According to political analysts, the major fight remains between the BJP’s Saini and Congress’ Singh, with any potential splits in the vote bank changing the tide for either party.