Eyeing the chair of coveted Chief Minister’s post, most parties in Haryana are refraining from any pre-poll alliance. To top this, many parties are in a difficult position to draw battle lines for the upcoming assembly elections, due in October this year.
The ruling Congress in the State is already in a dilemma after their poor performance in the lok-Sabha elections where it retained only the Rohtak constituency seat out of total ten parliamentary seats in the State. The shameful defeat has put the Congress on back foot, which is now being considered to be out of the race in the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections and trying hard to keep its flock together in the face of great infighting within the party.
On the contrary, the lok-Sabha elections which is considered to be the semi-finals for the Vidhan Sabha elections in the State has boosted the confidence of Bhartiya Janta Party, which swept the general elections by winning seven parliamentary seats.The win has now forced both the State and the central leadership of BJP to consider the possibility of Government formation in the state, which remained a dream for the party for more than three decades now.
The party had vied with a pre-poll alliance with Haryana Janhit Congress since 2011, for both lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections with a seat share of 8:2 in lok Sabha and 45:45 in Vidhan Sabha.However, after the thumping victory of BJP in recently held lok Sabha elections, the State BJP leadership is skeptic about the previous seat sharing formula and is also considering the idea of continuing the ongoing alliance with the HJC.
According to sources, some senior leaders have even asked HJC chief Kuldeep Bishnoi to merge his party with the BJP.HJC’s dismal performance in lok-Sabha elections, where the party lost both the seats it was contesting from, has prompted some BJP leaders to urge the party high command to contest the upcoming Vidhan Sabha polls on its own.
Kuldeep Bishnoi, HJC’s chief failed to retain his own seat from Hissar which has landed him in a wary situation with his party’s alliance with the BJP.On the other hand, number of senior BJP leaders holding plump posts in the state like Ram Bilas Sharma, Captain Abhimanyu and Jagdish Mukhi are claiming to be the Chief Ministerial candidate in the upcoming assembly elections.
Meanwhile, HJC even after their poor performance are ready to stick to their previous commitment as BJP allies. BJP’s stalwarts Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh had earlier declared that Bishnoi would be the Chief Minister of the state for two and a half years if the alliance succeeds to form government in Haryana. In face of a crushing defeat Bishnoi is still reluctant to stop chasing the carrot on a stick.
Indian National lok Dal (INlD), which is the main opposition party in Haryana, is also trying to increase its proximity with the BJP. INlD won the two parliamentary seats after fifteen years, which has boosted the moral of the party in the State.The futile attempt of the party to form an alliance with BJP for lok Sabha elections has not marred its will to try a pre-poll alliance for the upcoming assembly elections. INlD is projecting Om Prakash Chautala, the jailed party chief as their Chief Ministerial candidate.
However, the BJP which is riding high on hubris in the state gaining its strength from the ongoing Modi wave is currently in a comfortable position and will take decision at own accord for any kind of pre poll alliance.