Non-BJP, non-Congress ‘3rd Front’ taking shape ahead of Haryana Assembly elections

Pradeep Sharma

Chandigarh, July 10

A non-BJP, non-Congress “Third Front” is shaping up ahead of the October Assembly elections in Haryana.

The INLD and BSP will announce their alliance in Chandigarh tomorrow. “Efforts are on to bring like-minded parties together to take on the BJP and Congress,” a senior INLD leader told The Tribune.

Rampal Majra, INLD’s state president, said the non-BJP and non-Congress parties should strengthen the INLD-BSP alliance. The regional parties, led by the INLD, would be in a better position to safeguard Haryana’s interests as both the Congress and BJP had failed to watch the state’s interests during their respective regimes, Majra said.

The INLD has been a strong votary of the “Third Front”. While the SAD had been a traditional ally of the INLD in Haryana, the party is open to a “strategic” alliance with other outfits across Haryana in the Assembly elections — touted to be a direct contest between the BJP and Congress in the backdrop of both parties winning five Lok Sabha seats each in the recent parliamentary poll.

Join hands, other parties told

The non-BJP and non-Congress parties should strengthen the INLD-BSP alliance to take on the national parties. Regional parties, led by the INLD, will be in a better position to safeguard Haryana’s interests as both the Congress and BJP have failed to do so. —Rampal Majra, INLD state chief

The Haryana Jansewak Party of Independent MLA (Meham) Balraj Kundu, the Loktantra Suraksha Party (LSP) of former BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini, besides the CPI and the CPM, are the prominent outfits that could be a part of the alliance.

The JJP, which ended its over four-year-old alliance with the BJP in March, is unlikely to join any alliance spearheaded by its parent party, the INLD, though it had announced that it would not ally with the BJP.

Meanwhile, the AAP — technically a part of INDIA bloc — is yet to take a call on an alliance, despite the fact that Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda had reiterated that the party did not need one. During the recent Lok Sabha elections, the AAP had contested the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat as part of INDIA bloc.

During the Lok Sabha poll, the BJP had taken a lead in 44 of the 90 Assembly segments as against 42 of the Congress, with the AAP leading in four segments.

The INLD and BSP, with a vote percentage of 1.74 and 1.28, respectively, had registered one of their worst performances in the state’s electoral history. The alliance, both parties believe, will avoid the division of their traditional vote bank and stand them in good stead in the Assembly elections.

Wooing Jats, Dalits

The INLD-BSP alliance is targeting Jat (25%) and SC (20%) voters. Though the Jats and Dalits have never voted en masse for any party, during the recent LS elections, these sections had reportedly rallied around the Congress, giving it five LS seats. The INLD considers peasantry, especially the Jats, its vote bank while the BSP traces its support base to Dalits