BJP-HJC tie-up in Haryana
A new power equation
Dr Ganesh Dutt Vats
With an alliance between the BJP and the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), the third political formation is going to pose a serious threat to the bilateral political game that Haryana has witnessed over the years. This alliance can’t be dismissed just as being politically inconsequential since both the parties in it have tremendous hold over the urban voters, besides having made major inroads into the rural voters.
Normally, a byelection in any state is considered an isolated event, which is not likely to have any significant impact on the political fortunes of the major political parties in the fray. But this byelection in Haryana has assumed definitive significance as its outcome will have far reaching implications.
With the announcement of election schedule for Hissar constituency, all major political parties have intensified their campaigning and efforts are being made to woo the voters through many kinds of allurements, tall promises and whipping up their emotions on caste and communal lines. This election is being considered very crucial after Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement, which besmirched the reputation of Congress as a party notorious for a series of scams and scandals running into lakhs of crores of rupees.
The outcome of the election, if goes against the Congress, will shake the faith of the people in the Congress. Therefore, the Congress is using all types of political strategies to win this seat. The INLD has already fielded its best candidates, Ajay Chautala, to win the seat since its victory could go a long way in reviving and reinforcing its political morale. In the last assembly elections, the INLD retrieved much of its lost political space and improved its tally considerably though it could not form a government.
The third political formation, which has emerged with the alliance between the BJP and the HJC will also give a tough fight to the two major political parties, the Congress and the INLD, and it would be very interesting to watch whether Kuldeep Bishnoi capitalises on his father’s reputation in the area and retain the seat with the support of the BJP. If he wins, the alliance between the two parties will strengthen and they together can give major twists and turns to the political configuration in Haryana.
So, it would not be inappropriate to say that political scenario in Haryana is all poised for big churning. The new alliance can emerge as a balancing force in the next election.
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