 "Haryana: Parties nervous about future alliances")
Between now and 2017 - when Punjab holds Assembly elections - the BJP and its alliance partner, the Shiromani Akali Dal - have time to patch up and repair their alliance. This took a lot of knocks in the Haryana election, as SAD had to yield ground to both the Indian National Lok Dal and the BJP in the 90-member Haryana Assembly.
Consistent with the BJP's new-found self assertion, if the party is even reasonably successful in the Haryana elections, it might decide to dump the SAD in Punjab and contest the 2017 election independently.
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Although no BJP leader is willing to go on the record, there is considerable tension in the party over the way SAD - despite being an ally at the centre - is pitting itself not just against the INLD but also against the BJP. The BJP is fighting SAD candidates in at least 30 constituencies of Haryana, especially Ambala and Kallianwali (where SAD is fielding its own candidates), Kurukshetra, Karnal, Dabwali, Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Jagadhari, Ladwa, Rania and Ellenabad, all towns that have a sizeable Sikh population. Both Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal have campaigned extensively in Haryana. While this might add up to very little in terms of seats, it is putting pressure on the alliance.
Against this background, if the INLD emerges victorious in Haryana, the BJP might blame SAD for its debacle and force the party high command to review the alliance.
Right now, no BJP leaders is ready to comment on a possible post-poll alliance scenario. But they are watching the situation closely.
The Congress, on the other hand, has no such compulsions. It cannot go with either the INLD or the SAD and is exuding confidence that it would be able to beat two-term anti-incumbency and form the government a third time.
"We are confident of forming the government for the third time in the state. The atmosphere is very positive for the Congress rule," Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had told Business Standard in an interview a few days ago. In the Lok Sabha polls in May, the party managed to get just one seat out of 10 with the BJP getting seven and the INLD getting two. In the previous Lok Sabha, Congress had nine seats.
Hooda says during the Congress rule, Haryana has become number one state in the country in terms of per capita income, per capita investment and resource mobilisation.
"We are far ahead of Gujarat in most of the parameters. We have brought Haryana from 14th position to number one in the 10 years of the Congress rule in the state," he said.