Haryana BJP today said it is gearing up to contest election from all Assembly seats in the state in case its alliance with the Kuldeep Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Morcha falls out, a senior state leader said.
The party is also likely to announce the list of 45 candidates, half the number of seats in the 90-member state assembly, which goes to polls in October, by August 31.
"By August 31, we are likely to announce the names of our 45 candidates," Haryana BJP's legislature party leader and Ambala Cantt MLA, Anil Vij, said today.
Vij informed the BJP's state unit had prepared a panel of candidates for all the 90 seats and forwarded the names to party high command.
While on some seats, a panel of three names has been prepared, on some others the number varies from one to two.
Asked when BJP was preparing the panel of candidates for all the 90 seats, in that case where did its alliance with Kuldeep Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Congress stood, Vij said, "from our side we have made preparation to fight all the seats on our own in case the alliance does not work, which is why we have forwarded the names."
When asked to clarify if BJP was preparing to go it alone in the upcoming assembly polls, Vij said, "we were committed to the alliance, but Bishnoi has violated the coalition dharma. In fact, he has been speaking in a dictating tone and wants to dictate the terms, knowing fully well that his party lost both the Lok Sabha seats it contested despite there being a Modi wave.
"Bishnoi has spared no effort to break the ties. During the past few months, we have not found Bishnoi putting even a single photo of any of our leader including Prime Minister Narendra Modi from HJC's platforms."
Responding to a question if BJP would consider giving tickets to leaders who have recently joined the party from mainly the Congress and Indian National Lok Dal camps, Vij said, "though, all of those who joined us did so unconditionally, yet we are considering their names as well".
After the recently held Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won seven of the eight seats it contested while its ally the HJC failed to win two seats it contested that included Bishnoi's loss from his stronghold Hisar to greenhorn Dushyant Chautala of the INLD.
BJP, which is eyeing to wrest the power from the ruling Congress, currently has an alliance with Haryana Janhit Congress, which was once described as "rock-solid" by senior saffron leaders including Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari.
Uncertainty over the continuance of the tie-up has been gaining ground ever since the results of the LS polls were out, which gave BJP the edge while HJC failed to deliver.
Currently the ties between the partners are under strain due to differences on seat-sharing, with Bishnoi's party seeking 45 of the 90 seats and that he be declared the Chief Ministerial candidate of the alliance, the two demands which the BJP is opposing.
