Multi-cornered fight in 20 seats; BJP hopes for gain, Congress worried

Haryana is set to witness a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress in nearly 70 of the 90 Assembly constituencies. The remaining 20 segments where a multi-cornered contest is on the cards may hold the key to the government formation.

Disgruntled BJP and Congress leaders, who were denied the party ticket, are in the fray as Independent candidates in a majority of these seats. In others, candidates representing the INLD-BSP, AAP and the JJP-ASP could spring a surprise. Fully aware of such a scenario, both the Congress and the BJP have a different strategy to deal with it.

Sources said the segments where non-Congress or non-BJP candidates could change the poll arithmetic included Kalayat, Pundri, Rewari, Baroda, Ambala Cantonment, Panipat Rural, Panipat City, Hisar, Gohana, Gurgaon, Ganaur, Ellenabad, Rania, Punhana and Dabwali.

A BJP poll strategist told The Tribune that multi-party contests usually favoured the BJP. “We think such contests are in fact essential on certain seats where the BJP candidates are on a sticky wicket,” he claimed.

“The party strategy on these seats included propping up winnable ‘friendly’ candidates with the sole objective of defeating the Congress,” the strategist said.

Sources in the BJP said such seats were “micro-managed” by the party with help of prominent local leaders and “panna pramukhs” who would apprise the party high command about the ground situation right before the start of voting on October 5. “The poll strategy will be tweaked as per the feedback from the ground-level workers,” a source said.

On the other hand, to avoid any damage due to such contests, Congress leaders have been cautioning the people not vote for “vote-cutters”. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly said that the “remote control” of smaller parties and Independent candidates was with the BJP. “A direct contest between the Congress and the BJP always works to our advantage. This time, despite attempts by the BJP to make the contest multi-cornered, the voters have seen through its designs and are going with the Congress,” said Aftab Ahmed, Congress candidate from Nuh.

In recent years, it has been seen that smaller parties and Independents have proved to be the game-changers. In 2019, the BJP, which had won 40 seats, formed the government with the help of JJP’s 10 MLAs and seven Independents.

Similarly, in 2009, when the Congress had got just 40 seats in the 90-member House, it formed the government with the support of seven Independents.