 "Haryana elections: Revolt in BJP; Cong-AAP hold alliance talks. Top updates")
The Haryana Assembly polls, scheduled for October 5, is turning into one of the most high-stakes elections, brimming with political drama. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), surrounded by the challenge of anti-incumbency concern, is facing a major revolt within the Haryana unit after it shuffled candidates on 40 out of 67 constituencies in its first list.
On the other hand, the Congress, buoyed by a strong performance in the Lok Sabha elections, is determined to oust the BJP from power in Haryana. However, it faces a key challenge in its ongoing negotiations with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) regarding a potential alliance to prevent the division of votes.
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Congress is looking to offer AAP only a single-digit number of seats out of the 90 in the Haryana Assembly. This proposal may not go well with the AAP, which had earlier announced that it will contest all 90 seats. Media reports claim that under the proposed alliance, the AAP has demanded at least 10 seats in Haryana while the Congress is willing to only concede up to seven.
Latest developments in 2024 Haryana elections
1) Many BJP leaders, including Cabinet Minister Ranjit Chautala have resigned from their posts and party’s membership after being denied tickets in the elections. During Wednesday’s announcement, the saffron party named candidates for 67 seats, which included as many as 25 new faces.
2) Ratia lawmaker Laxman Dass Napa, Farmer unit chief Sukhvinder Sheoran, senior BJP leader Shamsher Singh Kharkhara, and former MLA Bachan Singh Arya are among the key BJP leaders to have resigned from the party.
3) Chautala and Arya have announced that they will contest as independent candidates in the elections. Savitri Jindal, the richest Indian woman and matriarch of the Jindal Group, may also contest independently from Hisar. She joined the BJP in March and was expecting an Assembly poll ticket but BJP has retained Health Minister Kamal Gupta from the seat.
AAP-Congress race against time
4) The Congress and AAP are engaged in seat-sharing talks for the Haryana Assembly polls with hard bargaining from both sides. Congress leader Ajay Singh Yadav on Thursday said the party does not require an alliance in Haryana, asserting that its popularity is at its peak. He said that AAP has no base in Haryana and will not be able to cause any loss in the polls, referring to apprehensions about vote division.
5) On the status of alliance talks, Congress in-charge of Haryana Deepak Babaria said that discussions are underway. Babaria said that apart from the AAP, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Samajwadi Party have also reached out, seeking a minimal number of seats. They want to make their presence felt in the state, he added.
Regional parties in Haryana face extinction threat
6) JJP leader and former Haryana deputy CM Dushyant Chautala has filed his nomination, seeking to retain the Uchana Kalan seat in the Jind district. The JJP, in alliance with the Chandra Shekhar Azad-led Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), has released its first list of candidates., which includes 15 candidates from the JJP and four from the Azad Samaj Party (ASP). The JJP will contest 70 seats.
7) Rampal Majra, the president of the Indian National Lok Dal's (INLD) Haryana unit, will run for election from Kalayat in Kaithal. On July 11, the INLD allied with its former partner, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), for the upcoming polls. The INLD has been out of power in Haryana for 20 years and hopes to avoid a complete disappearance from the political landscape during the upcoming polls.