New Delhi: Ahead of the Assembly polls, the Congress in Haryana is trying hard to create a Jat-Jatav vote base to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party juggernaut in the state. Here, the Congress is trying to bring on board the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) so that the party can halt the winning spree of BJP, sources close to Congress have said.
Though the BSP has cleared the air about alliance formation saying that the party has no such plans in Haryana and it will face the poll battle alone, a source close to the Congress has confirmed that both the BSP and Congress are in talks and they are exploring the possibility of having an alliance in Haryana. The polls for the 90 seats of Haryana Assembly are likely to be held in October and the announcement regarding this may come by next week.
According to a source, the newly appointed leader of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja strongly favour having an alliance with the BSP to make inroads in the Jatav vote base in the state. “Senior Congress leaders have personally discussed an alliance formation plan with the BSP. Also, the senior leaders are trying to woo the INLD to consolidate the Jat voters in the state,” a Congress source told The Sunday Guardian.
The INLD, which is now virtually spearheaded by Om Prakash Chautala’s younger son Abhay Singh Chautala, is looking to make a comeback after having lost three consecutive Assembly polls since 2005. “Recently, talks were held with BSP supremo Mayawati to discuss about a prospective alliance in the state and senior Congress leaders are continuously in touch with the BSP. So far, the alliance talks with the BSP have not reached any conclusion; the Congress is not leaving any stones unturned to bring the BSP on board,” the source said.
Although the BSP is not a big player in Haryana as in the 2014 Assembly polls the party managed to win only one seat and could bag a low 4.4% vote share, it can play a great role in shaping perception. In 2014, the Congress witnessed an embarrassing defeat in the same elections and slipped to the third position. In 2014, the BJP had won 47 seats out of the 90 seats. This was followed by Om Prakash Chautala’s INLD which got 19 seats and Congress 15 seats. The INLD split last year.
“Congress leaders are also in touch with the INLD functionaries and they are trying to bring the old dynast in the party fold. The exercise of wooing the INLD is to consolidate the Jat vote base in Haryana that has shifted towards the BJP. In this regard, the Congress leaders have approached several Khap leaders and have asked the Khap leaders for their help in approaching Abhay Singh Chautala of INLD,” the same source cited above said.
Soon after being appointed as the leader of the Congress Legislative Party, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja intensified the search for a prospective alliance partner that could give the much needed support base to the Congress in the state, according to the source.
Seeing the Congress’ readiness for the polls, the BJP has also intensified its poll preparation. “In Rohtak, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar took part in a meeting held with top organisation leaders, Union ministers, MLAs, MPs, district presidents, district in-charges and ensured that all public representatives go to the booth level under the booth mass campaign programmes of the party so that a greater connect can be established,” Subhash Barala, BJP’s state president, told The Sunday Guardian.
A local RSS functionary told The Sunday Guardian: “The BJP has intensified preparations for the Assembly elections. The party has decided to fight the poll battle with full vigour. After the Jan Ashirwad Yatra and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Rohtak rally, top leaders of the party are working on the poll strategy in the state and the party’s national leaders will visit Haryana this week to chalk out a new strategy.”
“It is expected that the national BJP leaders will hold district-wise meetings on 16-17 September at two places,” the same RSS functionary said. As per the source, the top leadership of the BJP has already prepared a blueprint for candidates in almost all the 90 seats of Haryana.