Haryana: When elections come, can the ED be far behind?

Once the Election Commission of India (ECI) announces—or reschedules—election dates, you can count on the Enforcement Directorate (ED) bestirring itself. With Haryana’s assembly elections being postponed from 1 October to 5 October, the ED has launched an offensive against former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The agency claims to have seized immovable properties worth Rs 834 crore belonging to Emaar India Limited and MGF Developments Limited, located near Gurugram and Delhi. The FIR under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), was registered in July this year, with Hooda’s name included in the investigation. This suggests that the ED had geared up for the election even before the ECI!

And this isn’t the only case the ED is pursuing against Hooda. Earlier, the agency had seized property worth Rs 300 crore belonging to the real estate company M3M, with Hooda’s name appearing in the FIR. Both cases were transferred to the ED following an investigation by the CBI. Hooda has not bothered to react to these developments, merely stating that they are old cases and have nothing to do with him. Nevertheless, since his name is in the FIRs, the ED could question and arrest him, as well as apprehend sections in his party.

Arresting him, however, may not be so easy after the Supreme Court ruled that the ED cannot make arrests based solely on witnesses’ statements.

In similar cases, the slightest hint of a money trail led the ED to widely publicise it in the media and hint at impending arrests long before any actual arrests. That the agency has not yet followed the script reinforces Hooda’s confidence that the charges are unsubstantiated.

Political observers in Haryana believe that with political winds currently favouring the Congress, arresting Bhupinder Singh Hooda could backfire. The seizure of property seems designed to serve two purposes. One, to reinforce the narrative that all who oppose the ruling regime are corrupt. Second, to disrupt Hooda’s election campaign by repeatedly summoning him to Delhi for questioning. Being galvanised into action on cases that were in limbo for an entire decade, that too just before the elections, indicates the real motive.

Hooda isn’t the only target. Several other Congress leaders are also in the ED’s crosshairs. A few months ago, when the ED raided the home of Congress leader Rao Dan Singh, it was suggested that up to 22 Congress MLAs could also face action.

Rao Dan Singh is a prominent leader of the Ahir community. Two other leaders from this community, Rao Inderjit Singh and Rao Narbir Singh, have already joined the BJP. By pulling in the last man standing, the saffron party might have hoped to secure the support of the entire Ahir community. However, this strategy does not seem to have worked, as Rao Dan Singh is still with the Congress.

The ED has also conducted raids on the residence of Congress MLA Dharam Singh Chhokar. Such raids are almost invariably portrayed as actions targeting Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s close associates. It is not a coincidence, rather a deliberate exercise, one that the media often reinforces.

By consistently linking these raids to Hooda’s inner circle, the coverage subtly underscores the idea that the BJP views him as its primary rival in Haryana. The emphasis on Hooda in these reports serves to highlight his enduring influence and the threat he poses to the ruling party’s ambitions in the state. It is possibly also intended to throw other influential leaders in the Congress—where an ED raid is held as a badge of honour—off guard.

There is one assembly seat in Haryana that has been consistently won by members of a single family for the past 56 years, regardless of the political party they represented. That’s the Adampur seat in Hisar district. As long as Bhajan Lal was alive, he secured this seat without fail. After his passing, it is said that the people of Adampur do not simply cast their votes—they pay homage to Bhajan Lal.

After the formation of Haryana, the first election in the state took place in 1967. Bhajan Lal sought a Congress ticket, which was awarded instead to Hari Singh Dabra, who went on to win the election. However, by the time the next election came around in 1968, Dabra had left the Congress. Adampur, known as a stronghold of the Bishnoi community, was seen as an important seat for the party, so they decided to offer the ticket to Mani Ram, a prominent Bishnoi leader.

At the last moment, Mani Ram also upped and left. Bhajan Lal, being the next prominent candidate from the Bishnoi community, stepped up. This marked the beginning of his winning streak.

When Bhajan Lal contested the 1972 assembly election, his opponent was Devi Lal, who was already regarded as one of Haryana’s top leaders. Despite this, Devi Lal lost by 11,000 votes. In 1977, Bhajan Lal left the Congress to join Jagjivan Ram’s Congress for Democracy and ran under the Janata Party ticket, winning by more than 21,000 votes.

Two years later, Bhajan Lal returned to the Congress and became the chief minister of Haryana. In the subsequent election, he secured victory with a margin of around 25,000 votes. The 1987 assembly election proved challenging for the Congress in Haryana. One of the five seats the party won was Adampur, where Bhajan Lal’s wife, Jasma Devi, claimed victory with a margin of about 10,000 votes. Bhajan Lal won the next election by 32,000 votes and once again became the chief minister of Haryana.

After serving as chief minister three times—from 1979 to 1982, 1982 to 1986 and again from 1991 to 1996—Bhajan Lal found it difficult when Bhupinder Singh Hooda became CM in 2005. He broke away in 2007 and formed a new party, the Haryana Janhit Congress. In 2009, Bhajan Lal’s son, Kuldeep Bishnoi, contested from Adampur on the new party’s ticket and won. The following year, Kuldeep won the Lok Sabha election from Hisar, and in the 2011 assembly by-election, his wife, Renuka Bishnoi, won—naturally—from Adampur.

After Bhajan Lal’s death in 2011, the Haryana Janhit Congress formed an alliance with the BJP for the 2014 election. Kuldeep Bishnoi sailed to victory. Just before the 2019 elections, he switched over to the Congress party and—don’t hold your breath—won again.

This victory proved indigestible to the BJP, leading to multiple cases being filed against him, including one involving a property worth Rs 400 crore in London. Additionally, tax authorities alleged that he owned property on the island of Grenada. Under mounting pressure, Kuldeep Bishnoi, like many other political figures, took the easy way out. He joined the BJP and resigned from the legislative assembly. In the subsequent by-election in 2022, his son, Bhavya Bishnoi, ran on a BJP ticket and won the seat.

Cut to 2024. The Congress is placing great hopes on the Adampur assembly seat because Congress candidate Jaiprakash secured a significant lead in Adampur in the recently held Lok Sabha elections. (It’s worth noting that the Bhajan Lal family did not field any candidates, while three members of the Devi Lal family were in the race.)

Any shift in power in a seat that has been dominated by a single family for so long would be nothing short of seismic. Whether historical patterns will persist or a new chapter begin remains to be seen. For now, all eyes are on Adampur.