Would Virender Sehwag’s Endorsement Help Congress In Haryana?

Legendary cricketer Virender Sehwag, who earned the moniker of ‘Sultan of Multan’ for his batting heroics in Pakistan in 2004, has publicly endorsed Anirudh Chaudhary, a Congress candidate for Haryana’s Tosham constituency.

This is being seen as Sehwag’s endorsement of the Congress party in the Haryana assembly elections. Voting for the 90-seat assembly is currently underway, and the results will be declared on October 8.

 

There is no disputing that Sehwag remains immensely popular, nearly 10 years after announcing his retirement from all formats of cricket.

His effortless and fearless batting often led to him being compared with his idol, Sachin Tendulkar. Sehwag became the first Indian to score a triple century, when he accumulated 309 runs against Pakistan in the Multan test in 2004 in a dazzling display of raw talent and controlled aggression. India went on to win that Multan test against its arch rival Pakistan, and Sehwag was named the Man of the Match.

Sehwag is quite popular on social media, too. He has 23.9 million followers on X (formerly Twitter), and regales his audiences with his crisp one-liners there.

Sehwag also happens to be a Jat, an agrarian community that has historically dominated Haryana’s politics.

Admittedly, Sehwag’s endorsement could help the Congress to some extent, but it’s unlikely to decisively swing the balance in favour of the Grand Old Party.

Sure, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been ruling the state since 2014, faces numerous challenges. The wrestlers’ protest against party MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh dented the BJP’s image. The farmers were also unhappy about the farm laws that the BJP-led central government sought to introduce.

Therefore, there are several issues at play, and Sehwag’s endorsement can at best help the Congress at the margins. Caste factor will remain a key factor, and the Jats’ dominance fuels resentment even within the Congress party. For instance, Kumari Selja, a dalit leader of the Congress party, does not see eye to eye with the powerful Satrap Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Yet, the BJP, for all its challenges in the state, remains a formidable election machine. In Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, the party has powerful campaigners.