INLD and BSP have announced to contest elections in an alliance in Haryana while BJP and HLP are believed to come up together following the announcement of CM Nayab Singh Saini.
WIth the assembly polls to be held in Haryana on October 4 as per the instructions of the Election Commission of India (ECI), all the political parties gearing up prove their mettle as well as to win the elections. It is clearly visible from the current political scenario of the state that a small state like Haryana with just 90 assembly seats is most likely to witness a neck to neck fight between the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and the main opposition Congress party. Apart from Congress, other opposition parties including Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Indian National Lok Dal and its arch rival, Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), the former partner of the saffron BJP, are on toes in a bid to return power in some form or to be the kingmaker. In this context, political experts believe that in order to come to power, political parties will have no issues in bringing their differences to an end and joining hands with arch political rivals . Till now, BJP and Congress have not openly joined hands with anyone, while two marginalized political parties have already been officially confirmed to contest the elections in alliance in Haryana.
With declining status and electoral support, the INLD and BSP have announced an alliance, with leaders of the two parties agreeing to project INLD sole MLA Abhay Singh Chautala as the alliance’s chief ministerial face for the Haryana assembly elections scheduled in October this year. As per the alliance, the INLD will contest 53 seats while BSP to 37 seats in the 90-member Haryana Assembly. It is pertinent to mention that the BSP and INLD have formed an electoral alliance in Haryana. In April 2018, both parties had formed an electoral alliance, but it could not continue after the INLD candidate’s poor performance in the Jind assembly elections in January 2019. Prior to this, in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, the INLD and BSP had contested 7 and 3 seats under alliance respectively. Even in the recent Lok Sabha elections, both INLD and BSP had fielded their candidates but these polls proved a nightmare for both as none of the party candidates could save their fixed deposits. INLD and BSP secured only 1.74 per cent and 1.28 per cent votes respectively , while the deposit was forfeited on all the seats. INLD fielded candidates on 7 seats while BSP on 9 Lok Sabha seats out of 10 parliamentary constituencies. While contrary to the Lok Sabha polls, the INLD and BSP leaders are having high hopes from the forthcoming polls to be fought in alliance.
In Haryana, Congress contested the last Lok Sabha elections in alliance with AAP but after this the party made it clear that it will go solo in the assembly elections. In this row, AAP is also continuously claiming that it is capable of fighting elections and forming a government on its own in Haryana, although the current situation of the party clearly depicts that in Haryana, surviving the forthcoming polls will be a litmus test for AAP. Keeping in the results of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress was continuously refusing to form an alliance, but as per the instructions of the Congress high command, the state Congress unit in Haryana had to accept the decision of the party high command. AAP which was given a single one seat in Lok Sabha polls under alliance could not survive the polls. In continuation to aforesaid, it is noteworthy that outrightly rejecting any possibility of alliance with the JJP, the Haryana AAP state president Dr Sushil Gupta said that ‘’ How is possible to form an alliance with a party responsible for the worsened position of the farmers in the state being a partner in the state government for a period of around four and half year’’.
Amid this, recently Haryana Lokhit Party (Halopa) has decided to field Gobind Kanda’s son Dhawal Kanda from Rania assembly seat where the BJP stalwart Ranjeet Singh Chautala who faced the debalcle from Hisar Lok Sabha seat, successfully contested the assembly polls from. Unlike 2014 assembly polls, the saffron BJP fell short of majority in 2109, the then Chief Minister Manohar Lal made him a cabinet minister after Ranjeet Singh extended support to the party in 2019 . It is pertinent to mention that before the Lok Sabha elections 2024, Ranjit Chautala joined BJP and resigned from the Rania seat. After Halopa fielding a candidate from Rania, the question has arisen that the siege of Ranjit Chautala has started, because a few days ago CM Naib Saini had said that BJP and Halopa will contest the elections together in the state. Following his defeat in Lok Sabha polls, Ranjit Chautala, a cabinet minister in the Naib Saini government, has refrained himself from BJP’s programs for the last few days. Now it remains to be seen what equations are formed on the Rania seat. In the 2019 assembly elections, Chautala defeated Gopal Kanda’s brother Gobind Kanda by a margin of 19 thousand votes.
In continuation to aforesaid, it is pertinent to mention that with the declaration of the early assembly polls, all are eyeing the speculations as well as the possibility of the alliance between Samajwadi party and Congress in Haryana under INDI alliance on the lines of UP. Samajwadi Party which succeeded in winning a maximum 37 seats in Lok Sabha polls in UP , is demanding at least five seats , Gurugram, Mahendragarh and Rewari districts under the INDI alliance in Haryana adding to the woes of the Congress.Samajwadi Party has been staking claim on give seats saying only those seats from Congress where it will contest only those seat continuously being lost by the Congress in Haryana.\The current political environment clearly shows that Congress is in no mood to give a share of seats to Samajwadi Party. Leader of Opposition Bhupendra Singh Hooda says that till now there is no discussion about alliance with Samajwadi Party for the assembly elections in Haryana. If there is any progress in this direction in the coming days, it will be at the level of the central leadership of Congress. Political experts believe that the way Congress had to compromise with Aam Aadmi Party in Haryana due to the decision of the party high command before the parliamentary polls and it is believed that on the lines of Lok Sabha elections, it may have to compromise with Samajwadi Party in the Haryana assembly elections.
