Last Updated on 04/09/2024 by Arun jain
The two-time ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is caught in a tough fight in the Haryana elections. The BJP, which is trying to form the government for the third time in a row, is in alert mode after losing five seats in the Lok Sabha elections. At a time when the opposition Congress’s base is continuously strengthening in the state, Jats and farmers are said to be angry, BJP is on the backfoot on the issue of caste census, the party leaders are also well aware that it will not be easy to score a hattrick of victories in Jatland. If the BJP leadership is hopeful of victory while contemplating on the challenges, then it also has its own basis.
BJP’s hopes in Haryana are based on the division of anti-incumbency votes. The party wants the division of anti-incumbency votes just like it happened in Goa and the party was successful in scoring a hat-trick of victories. Sensing this strategy of BJP, Congress has also come into alert mode and has started preparing a blueprint of political moves on the strategy table before the election battlefield. Congress is changing its strategy of ‘Ekla Chalo’ and is exploring the possibilities of contesting the Haryana elections in alliance with Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party and CPM, and behind this too, there is an attempt to counter the strategy of BJP.
what happened in goa
In the 2022 assembly elections in Goa, parties like Aam Aadmi Party and Trinamool Congress contested the elections and put in all their efforts. The result was that Congress suffered losses and the party lost the game which was being said to be a win. At that time, Aam Aadmi Party had won two seats with 6.77 percent vote share and Revolutionary Goans Party had won one seat with 9.21 percent vote share. TMC had entered the fray in alliance with Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. TMC got 5.21 percent votes. However, the party could not win any seat. Its ally Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party was successful in winning one seat with 7.6 percent vote share.
At the same time, Congress was successful in winning 11 seats with 23.46 percent vote share and Goa Forward Party was successful in winning one seat with 1.84 percent vote share. The Congress-led alliance had to suffer a loss of about three percent votes and six seats compared to the 2017 elections. In 2017, Congress won 16 seats and Goa Forward Party won two seats. At the same time, BJP was successful in winning 20 seats with 33.31 percent vote share. BJP could never win so many seats in Goa. If Aam Aadmi Party had also been included in the Congress-led alliance, the results could have been reversed.
Goa formula in Haryana too
If BJP is confident of a hattrick in Haryana, then the same Goa formula is being said to be behind it. BJP had broken its alliance with Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) just before the Lok Sabha elections. At that time, the strategy of making the fight for the Jat vote bank multi-cornered was the center of discussion. BJP’s eyes are especially fixed on two alliances of the opposition. JJP is in the fray in alliance with Advocate Chandrashekhar-led Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), while Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal has formed an alliance with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Also read: Congress is confident in Haryana but still why does Rahul Gandhi want an alliance with AAP? Understand in 5 points
Dalits are the second largest vote bank after Jats
Dalits are the second largest vote bank in Haryana after Jats. 17 seats in the state are reserved for Dalits and they are in a position to influence the election results on 35 assembly seats. The coming together of Jat and Dalit leadership is presenting an interesting picture of Haryana politics. BJP had lost on two seats (Ambala and Sirsa) reserved for Dalits in this Lok Sabha election. Because of Kumari Selja, Dalits of Haryana have started taking Congress seriously, which has increased the worries of two big players of Dalit politics, Mayawati and Chandrashekhar.
Also read: Big setback to JJP in Haryana, former ministers Devendra Babli and Sanjay Kablana join BJP
This is the main reason behind both BSP and ASP joining hands with Jat parties and entering the fray. Under the agreement, Chandrashekhar’s party will contest on 20 seats and JJP on 70 seats. Talking about BSP, last time the party had fielded candidates on 87 out of 90 seats. BSP candidates’ deposits were forfeited on 82 seats and the party could not even open its account. BSP’s vote share was four percent. BSP had got 1.28 percent votes in the Lok Sabha elections. If these two alliances are able to make a dent in the Jat and Dalit vote bank and there is a scattering of votes, then BJP’s chances of winning on the difficult electoral pitch of Haryana can be strengthened.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)