New Delhi, August 24
Having broken off with its traditional ally the INLD, sections in the BJP are wondering whether it would be worthwhile to work out an alliance with Bhajan Lal’s Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) for the forthcoming Haryana Assembly elections.
BJP general secretary in charge of Haryana Vijay Goel announced today in Chandigarh that the party has severed ties with Om Prakash Chautala-led INLD and would go it alone in the coming Assembly polls. The seat-sharing talks between the two parties broke down because of their inability to arrive at a common formula.
But while the BJP has declared its intent to contest all the 90 Assembly seats in the state, insiders conceded that this might be a rare exception and a stupendous task, since the party has all along done well primarily on the strength of its allies.
Therefore going to polls alone in Haryana is easier said than done for the BJP. The party has sought a parity with INLD on the ground that in the last General Election, though neither Chautala won a seat nor BJP, both fared well in seven Assembly segments each. Also BJP came second in many Assembly segments. “We were second in 25 segments and INLD in about 30,” said a BJP source, citing this as a reason for seeking parity with INLD.
In 2005 state elections, the BJP fielded candidates only in 29 Assembly segments. Notwithstanding the claims of the BJP state unit, the central leaders are aware of the state of affairs in the Haryana unit.
As for tie-up with Chautala, a section of the party had been opposing it since the party decided in 2008 to form a bond with the INLD. The then BJP legislative party leader Ram Kumar Gautam was removed from his post because he publicly opposed the alliance. The General Election results showed that Gautam was right in his assessment since the alliance did not work on the ground.
But the then Harayna in charge Sushma Swaraj pushed ahead with this alliance, ignoring all opposition. About the same time, another section of the party was also in touch with Bhajan Lal and his HJC. This section argued that both Bhajan Lal and the BJP are heavily dependent on city-dwelling Punjabi population.
On the other hand there is always an undercurrent of tension between BJP’s core constituency and the rural land-owning Jat farmer population — the vote base of Om Prakash Chautala.
Apart from homogeneity in the HJC and BJP constituency, the HJC which is still in a growing stage, will be more willing to accommodate BJP’s aspirations of increasing its area of influence and contesting more seats. Moreover of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Harayna, the lone seat that the Congress lost was to Bhajan Lal and so he is evidently the rising political force while Chautala is perceived as receding political entity.
