BJP is watching these developments closely and party insiders say it is a win-win situation for them.
The party has carefully been following a policy of consolidating non-Jat votes in the state while counting on a split in Jat votes between the Congress, INLD, and JJP. This worked well for the party in 2014 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls when Jat votes split between Congress and INLD, with the BJP getting most of the Upper Caste, Gujjar, Ahir, and Punjabi votes.
In 2019 Lok Sabha polls again, the Jat votes split between Congress, INLD and JJP, with the BJP also getting a chunk in addition to consolidating its own base of non-Jats.
However, this strategy backfired in the 2019 Assembly polls in which Jats voted tactically for Congress in some seats and JJP in others, to defeat the BJP. The party fell short of a majority and was forced to form a government along with the JJP.
With the JJP discredited following the farmers’ protests, the BJP was afraid that the Congress would consolidate…