Eying turncoats from BJP, Cong, regional parties in wait-and-watch mode

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 1

Eying turncoats from the national parties, the non-BJP and non-Congress regional parties in Haryana are in a wait-and-watch mode regarding declaration of their candidates for the October 5 Assembly elections.

Even as the BJP and Congress are in the final stage of declaring their candidates, the other parties, including INLD-BSP, the JJP-ASP (KR), and the AAP, seem to be waiting in the wings for the national parties to make their official candidates public to ‘adopt’ the ‘rejected candidates’.

With not many winnable candidates, the regional parties are watching out for potential rebels from the BJP and the Congress. ”Any winnable candidate, who professes faith in our ideology is welcome to join the party. We will definitely nominate that leader as our official candidate provided he is a potential winning candidate,” a senior AAP leader told The Tribune.

Looking for potential rebels

• Non-BJP, non-Congress parties to ‘adopt’ rejected ‘winnable’ probables from the BJP and Congress
• Currently, regional parties are struggling to nominate potential winning candidates
• ‘Rejected’ potential candidates from the BJP and Congress will have the option to contest from other parties and as well as Independents
• In 2019 polls, the JJP won 10 seats and emerged as the kingmaker on the strength of turncoats from other parties

So far, only the INLD-BSP alliance has declared candidates for 14 seats while the JJP-ASP (KR) and AAP are yet to name their candidates.

Over 2,800 potential BJP candidates had applied for the 90 Assembly seats while over 2,500 probables have applied for the Congress ticket. Both parties have recommended panels comprising 3-5 candidates on a majority of seats to their party high commands.

Sources said the probables ‘rejected’ by the BJP and Congress would naturally make a beeline for the regional parties in a bid to contest elections. While prominent politicians not getting nomination from the BJP and the Congress could join other parties, other “similarly-situated” politicians would have the option of entering the poll fray as Independent candidates,” the sources asserted.

These parties, which have derisively been called ‘vote-cutters’ by the BJP and the Congress leaders in the backdrop of a direct fight between the two national parties, would be desperately needing the turncoats to open their account in the elections.

In the 2019 Assembly polls, the JJP won 10 seats on the strength of turncoats from other political parties. The JJP ultimately played the kingmaker, stitching together a post-poll alliance with the BJP, which lasted for about four-and-a-half years with its leader Dushyant Chautala becoming the Deputy Chief Minister.

In fact, the AAP, which had governments in neighbouring Delhi and Punjab, would be heavily banking on turncoats to open its account in Haryana. The party has drawn a blank in the subsequent elections since its maiden entry in the Haryana politics since 2014.

In fact, in the land of “Aya Ram Gaya Ram”, defections are a norm especially in the run-up to the elections. With September 12 being the last date for filing nominations, the defections, including from the BJP and the Congress to the other parties, would be reported in large numbers, the sources added.