New Delhi: The Assembly election to 90 members Haryana Assembly is going to be very interesting, this time. The Congress which has been ruling the state for the past ten years is in a very bad shape. According to some party insiders, the Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress is staring at an imminent defeat. The BJP which was a marginal player in Haryana has now emerged as the front-runner. In the recent Lok Sabha election, the BJP swept the polls by winning eight out of total 10 seats in the state. The Congress and the main opposition INLD could manage to win just one seat each.
In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had an alliance with Kuldip Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Congress. The alliance has now broken and the HJC is planning contest on its own.
As of now, Haryana is likely to witness a four corner contest. However the main contest would be a triangular one between Congress, INLD and BJP, if there is no tie up between INLD and BJP.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda government is facing serious charges of corruption and nepotism. He is also accused of favouring only the Jats. Some top leaders of the Congress have already quit the party in protest. The Congress strongman from Gurgaon, Rao Inderjit Singh won the BJP ticket in the Lok Sabha and is already a Union minister.
Hood is also accused of working for the Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra. The controversial IAS officer Ashok Khemka has hit the headlines with series of allegations against Hooda and Vadra.
Powerful Haryana Congress leaders like Kumari Selja, Ashok Tanwar, Kiran Chaudhury and many others are openly opposing Hooda. According to Congress insiders, Hooda survived so long because of his strong links to the Gandhi family, particularly Vadra.
Hooda claims that he has done well as two term chief minister and Haryana has seen an all-round development under him.
The BJP is upbeat over its prospects of coming to power in Haryana. It has already started its Mission - 45 campaign. The BJP is trying to win the halfway mark 45 seats to come to power on its own.
With no big state level leader, the BJP is once again depending on the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to swing the votes in its favour. The RSS is also actively working at grassroots level.
The Chautalas-led Indian National Lok Dal is facing its worst ever crisis. Its chief and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala is in jail in connection with the teachers recruitment scam. One of his sons Ajay Chautala is also in jail.
His another son Abhay Chautala is keeping the party alive. In the recent Lok Sabha election, OP Chautala's grandson Dhushyant Chautala won from Hissar on the INLD ticket. The INLD is hoping to improve its tally this time.
It is not averse to the idea of aligning with the BJP after the election results. The BJP is trying for a tie-up with the INLD before the polls.
Kuldip Bishnoi-led HJC is treading carefully. Since, it can't go with the INLD, it can back the Congress. It may even go back to the BJP, if the BJP falls short of a few seats.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which was hoping to capture power in Haryana before the Lok Sabha elections is not even interested in trying its luck in the Assembly elections.
A clearer picture may emerge in a week.
Comments
0 comment