Congress is confident in Haryana but still why does Rahul Gandhi want an alliance with AAP? Understand in 5 points

Former Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi wants an alliance with Aam Aadmi Party in the assembly elections in Haryana on the lines of the general elections. Rahul Gandhi sought feedback from the state leaders about the alliance in the Central Election Committee meeting held to decide the candidates for the Haryana elections. He has assigned the responsibility of exploring the possibilities of alliance to a senior leader. Aam Aadmi Party has already announced to contest on all 90 seats of the state. Bhupendra Singh Hooda has also been saying that we will fight alone and win. Congress is confident about winning in Haryana. Still, why does Rahul Gandhi want an alliance with Aam Aadmi Party?

1- Mathematics of National Politics

Rahul Gandhi’s focus is more on national politics than on state politics. Despite the confidence of winning in Haryana, if he wants an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party, then his strategy is to maintain the unity of the India Block parties, which were standing amidst all the contradictions and ifs and buts in the Lok Sabha elections, and to increase the trust of the allies in the Congress. In the Madhya Pradesh elections, the Congress did not form an alliance with the Samajwadi Party despite talks till the last moment. At that time, the party was accused of sidelining smaller parties in those states where it is the main player. Congress now wants to get out of this tag. Future politics is behind this intention of Rahul Gandhi and that is why he wants to give a message from Haryana to the rest of the states of the country, the allies of the India Block.

2- Delhi-Gujarat Plan

Through Haryana, Rahul Gandhi wants to set the pitch for the national capital Delhi and Gujarat. In the last two assembly elections in Delhi, the Congress party has not been able to open its account. At the same time, the performance of the Congress was very poor in the last Gujarat election as well. Congress, which won 77 seats with 42.2 percent vote share in the 2017 elections, could win only 17 seats with 27.28 percent votes in 2022, which is also the party’s worst performance in the state. In the same election, the Aam Aadmi Party stood second on 35 seats with about 13 percent vote share. Rahul Gandhi has also been claiming in Parliament that this time the Congress party is going to defeat the BJP in Gujarat. The intention of alliance in Haryana elections is also being linked to his Delhi-Gujarat strategy.

3- Anti-incumbency lump sum vote

BJP is in power in Haryana since 2014. There is 10 years of anti-incumbency against the BJP government and Jat-farmers are also angry. Congress leaders feel that this time the circumstances are in their favour but the challenge is to prevent the scattering of these anti-votes. Parties like Indian National Lok Dal and Jannayak Janata Party are in the fray. JJP was in alliance with BJP till recently. INLD is trying to regain its lost ground but in such a situation if Aam Aadmi Party contests the elections alone then it can harm the chances of Congress.

4- BJP’s ground strategy

One factor behind Rahul Gandhi’s desire to form an alliance with Aam Aadmi Party is overconfidence. After the Chhattisgarh election results, the party is being extra cautious. BJP is active on the ground. The ruling party had broken its alliance with Dushyant Chautala’s JJP. Now there are three players on the pitch of Jat politics – Congress, INLD and JJP. On the other hand, BJP is also working on a strategy to mobilize non-Jat castes in its camp. CM Naib Saini is an OBC while the state president is a Brahmin.

Also read: Rahul in support of alliance with AAP in Haryana! Feedback sought from leaders in CEC meeting

Along with focusing on small pockets, BJP has also intensified its efforts to bring in leaders of other parties who are influential in a particular belt. As part of its strategy to set the maths of each seat, BJP has recently inducted many strong faces from other parties into the party, from Ambala Mayor Shakti Rani Sharma to JJP MLA Jogiram Sihag. There is also the Dera factor. In such a situation, the cautious Congress does not want to leave any stone unturned on the ground.

5- High command above Hooda

There is a notion that in Haryana Congress, only those who approve of Hooda are successful. Kumari Selja leads the faction opposing Hooda in the party. Kumari Selja is a big Dalit face, is an MP from Sirsa and is also considered to be in the race for the CM post. While Deepender Hooda was leading the ‘Haryana Maange Hisaab’ Yatra, Kumari Selja also took out a separate padyatra from Ambala. Factionalism has been a big problem for the Congress, which is trying to return to power with the help of the Jat-Dalit-Muslim equation in the state. When the BJP recently challenged to declare Kumari Selja as the CM face, the reason behind this was also being said to be a strategy to fuel factionalism.

Also read: Neither Shailja, nor Surjewala… Is Congress paving the way for Hooda by not giving tickets to MPs?

Congress is preparing to contest the elections without declaring a CM face. Now the problem is that last time the party refrained from declaring a CM face but then Hooda himself declared himself as the CM face. Now the high command also has the challenge of proving its superiority. Hooda has been clearly saying that Congress will fight the assembly elections alone and win. He is against alliance with any party. In such a situation, this stand of Rahul can also be a strategy to counter the narrative of ‘Hooda is the only Congress in Haryana’.