Chandigarh: To many, Haryana is known as Jat land, reflecting the dominance of the Jat community in the small state that broke its umbilical cord with Punjab in the three-way partition (1966). Mostly on linguistic grounds.

With Punjab at the center of the new entities, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana became its cousins. Since then, the Jat factor has been the core of Haryana’s identity.

But the community is not in the majority. It is second only to OBC. It explains why Devi Lal (the late former Deputy Prime Minister of the Janata government) remains a revered figure and why the Chautals are still a force to be reckoned with.

Jats have become the focus of election results. Unless they are divided by OBC and SC votes or overwhelmed by caste. This is the bipolar political battle in Haryana involving the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress.

The Jat vs. non-Jat divide is re-emerging. Cutting across caste and regions, issues like Agnipath scheme, revival of old pension scheme, unemployment, government jobs, old age pension and monthly financial assistance to women, besides law and order are likely to play an important role.