Haryana hurdle: Two distinct challenges plague BJP & Congress ahead of assembly polls

Congress and the BJP are circumspect in their approach as they fight two dominant and decisive issues in the upcoming assembly polls

With Haryana assembly elections closing in, both—Congress and the BJP are circumspect in their approach as they fight two dominant and decisive issues. For the grand old party, efforts made to ward off factionalism and the perception of a ‘divided house’ is palpable with senior Congress functionaries in Delhi sounding confident of a Congress victory in the state. Senior Congress leaders like Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja and Randeep Singh Surjewala holding separate rallies, have fueled the perception of a ‘divided house’.

For the Bharatiya Janata Party, the problems are slightly more complex and entrenched. On the one hand, the party has to tactfully address agrarian concerns, as a way to way to counter the farm agitation, and on the other consolidate the non-jat votes. The BJP hopes to retain power by consolidating the OBC constituent and announcing various welfare schemes and handouts while the Congress is hopeful that the anti-incumbency factor will play out against the BJP.

In the 2019 elections, despite leading with 40 seats, the BJP could only form a government by allying with the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which added 10 seats to the coalition.

Farmers setting the agenda

The Haryana unit of unaffiliated farmers body Samyukt Kisan Morcha is expected to deliberate on a legal guarantee for MSP, agricultural pricing body CACP’s formula for calculating MSP, and related matters, including a demand for memorial for 736 farmers who died during the farmers’ protest. Regardless of the outcome, it has the potential to set the tome for the October 1 election to the 90-member assembly.

The SKM is also going to villages to raise awareness about the pending demands of the farmers, said Singh. The group also has plans to hold 'Kisan Majdoor Mahapanchayats' between September 1 and 10, and the final decision will be taken in a meeting of the Haryana SKM later this month.

The farm unrest has implications for the BJP’s electoral prospects, turning the farmers’ agitation into a crucial test of the party’s political strategy, and its commitment to rural constituents.

‘Nonstop Haryana’ vs ‘Haryana Maange Hisab’

BJP, having swiftly removed Manohar Lal Khattar reading the anti-incumbency mood pre-Lok Sabha polls, is pushing ahead on their campaign ‘Nonstop Haryana. They are expected to face a tough challenge from Hooda-led Congress campaign ‘Haryana Maange Hisab’. Though the template of joblessness, farmers’ crisis, and a stagnating economy is familiar, Haryana is

While the saffron party is taking a third shot at the power, hoping to cash in on its win in the Parliamentary elections leading to the formation of party led NDA government for a third consecutive term at the Centre, the Congress, is gung-ho over its vastly improved outing in the Lok Sabha polls.

For the Congress, which has been out of power for a decade, the election is a battle to revive the party in the State. Upbeat after its performance in the recent Lok Sabha poll, in which it won five parliamentary seats of the nine it contested in the State, the Congress has stepped up its campaign.

How anti-incumbency may hurt BJP

In Haryana’s volatile political landscape, the BJP’s decision to replace Khattar with Saini was aimed at countering anti-incumbency pressures. This leadership transition, however, has not significantly alleviated public concerns about law and order situation. A series of defections and the break-up with ally JJP have left the BJP vulnerable. The party aims to regain support with welfare schemes, while Congress hopes anti-incumbency will help them win.