Mirchpur witnesses multi-cornered contest between BJP, INLD, a retired police officer and an independent

MIRCHPUR: They credit Hooda for bringing them under the OBC quota and for offering them several facilities in the field of education and eventually jobs, but the Jats of Mirchpur are still undecided on whether to vote for Congress .

But they are certain about one thing: if Sonia and Rahul Gandhi visit their constituency for rallying, they will not vote for Congress. Reason: the Jats hold Rahul, in particular, responsible for their arrest in the infamous Mirchpur incident.

A physically challenged girl and her septuagenarian Dalit father were charred to death in the Mirchpur killing. In that incident of caste violence that rocked Haryana on April 21, 2010, a mob belonging to the dominant Jat community had also burnt down 18 Dalit homes.

Strangely enough, they do not hold Hooda responsible for what they call “false implication” of the Jats. Instead, they accuse Rahul Gandhi for delivering a hate speech in Mirchpur against them. "He added fuel to the fire which resulted in the arrest of those Jat leaders who were not even remotely associated with the case," rues Om Pal.

Sitting beside him, another Jat, Ram Kesh adds, "If they (Sonia and Rahul) visit the constituency, they will be greeted with black flags." Mirchpur, located in Narnaund constituency, faces a multi-cornered contest with BJP’s Captain Abhimanyu taking on Indian National Lok Dal ( INLD) Raj Singh Mor, a retired Superintendent of Police, and an independent candidate Ram Kumar Gautam.

More than 50% of the population of this village are Jats, while the rest are Brahmins and other castes. The contest has intensified after BJP president Amit Shah pitched hard for Captain Abhimanyu as a front runner for the CM post.