Gurugram: Ram Chander Jangra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana who sparked a storm with his remarks on the victims and survivors of the Pahalgam terror attack, has never won an election. The 75-year-old fought many assembly and Lok Sabha polls, starting 1982, but never made it, despite trying for nearly 40 years.
He was finally elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha in March 2020 because he was seen as the party’s Backward Classes (BC) face in the state.
According to a senior BJP leader who did not want to be identified, he was chosen as a “perfect dhoti-wearing BC leader” to represent the Backward Classes.
The leader told ThePrint, “The BJP needed a BC leader to be sent to the Rajya Sabha, and it found a perfect candidate in him since he wears a dhoti-kurta, and looks like a perfect example of the artisan class of carpenters he represents.”
However, Jangra has long been a polarising figure in Haryana politics, known for his outspoken nature.
On Saturday, Jangra triggered a new controversy by suggesting that the women who lost their husbands in the 22 April attack “lacked the warrior spirit”, and that training under the Modi government’s Agniveer scheme could have reduced casualties. The victims died “with folded hands”, he claimed.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and others party leaders labelled his remarks during the BJP’s Ahilyabai Holkar Tricentenary Memorial Campaign event in Bhiwani as “utterly disgraceful” and a “grave insult” to the grieving women. The Congress demanded accountability, questioning whether the BJP endorsed Jangra’s views, warning that inaction would imply Prime Minister Modi’s endorsement.
The BJP distanced itself, with Haryana spokesperson Sanjay Sharma saying that the remarks were Jangra’s personal opinion. Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who is said to have got Jangra the Rajya Sabha seat, also made his disapproval known.
Also Read: ‘Pahalgam women lacked bravery, that’s why 26 died with folded hands’—BJP MP Jangra sparks storm
Political journey
Jangra’s political journey began in Haryana’s agrarian heartland in Meham, Rohtak district. He initially aligned with the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) under former chief minister Bansi Lal, before joining the BJP after HVP’s dissolution in 2004.
After years of electoral losses, he was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha in March 2020. His term ends in April 2026.
The BJP leader quoted above said that although Jangra has contested half a dozen assembly elections and two Lok Sabha elections from multiple state districts, and finished poorly every time, he has had his “political strengths”.
Jangra’s parliamentary record is excellent, with 98 percent attendance rate, surpassing the national 80 percent and state 88 percent average, according to the PRS Legislative Research data.
He chairs the Haryana Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Sections Welfare Committee.
“In politics, it’s not always merit that determines a person’s rise—sometimes luck plays a role, too. That seems to be the case with Ram Chander Jangra, who lost eight elections badly, but was eventually elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha,” Kushal Pal, former professor of political science and principal of Indira Gandhi National College, Ladwa, Kurukshetra, told ThePrint. “That said, one must admire his resilience. He didn’t give up despite repeated setbacks.”
Jangra’s career is marked equally by a history of electoral struggle and provocative statements that kept him in the spotlight.
According to information available with the Election Commission of India, his first contest was in 1982, when he ran as an Independent for the Meham Assembly seat, securing a mere 113 votes, or 0.2 percent of the total, putting him in ninth place. The graduate contested Meham again in 1987 as an Independent, slightly improving to 229 votes (0.34 percent), and climbing to sixth place.
By 1991, Jangra had joined Bansi Lal’s HVP and ran as its official candidate in Meham, significantly boosting his performance to 4,842 votes, or 7.08 percent, finishing third. In 1996, he returned to contesting as an Independent, this time from the Safidon Assembly seat, but his performance plummeted to 130 votes, landing him in 15th position.
Jangra’s ambitions grew to the national stage in 1998, when he contested the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat against heavyweights, like Bhupinder Singh Hooda and former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal. He secured 4,628 votes (0.7 percent), putting him in fourth position.
In 2004, representing HVP, he ran for the Karnal Lok Sabha seat, achieving 21,371 votes, but finishing seventh. His final electoral bid before his Rajya Sabha elevation came in 2014, when he contested the Gohana Assembly seat as a BJP candidate, securing a respectable 28,365 votes (24.23 percent), but still finishing third.
His success finally came not through popular vote, but through BJP’s strategic selection for the Rajya Sabha.
Past controversies
Jangra’s penchant for controversy rivals his political persistence. During the 2020-21 farmers’ protests, he claimed 700 girls went missing from the Delhi border due to “drug addicts from Punjab”, a baseless allegation he later attributed to “people’s gossip”, drawing backlash and an alleged attack on his car in Hisar.
In 2021, his Rajya Sabha anecdote about a patient uplifted by a “young, beautiful nurse” was deemed “indecent” by the Haryana Nursing Welfare Association, and his apology failed to appease critics.
Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he stirred outrage by suggesting Muslim artisans could have made India an AK-47 producer, a remark criticised for communal undertones.
His comments on women wearing torn jeans as “Europe’s garbage” further invited criticism. Jangra’s anecdotes, often targeting Haryanvis—like a story about a Haryanvi tying a thief’s feet—have drawn accusations of perpetuating stereotypes.
Close to former Haryana chief minister Khattar, but lacking a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh background, Jangra stands out in the BJP. The list of controversies sparked by him contrasts with his advocacy for the Backward Classes, making him a complex figure in Haryana politics.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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