Triangular fight in Haryana, Congress banks on development, BJP on change, INLD on sympathy

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The BJP, which had been a fringe force in the state, has emerged as a prime political party overnight.

Chandigarh: The small and relatively prosperous state of Haryana will vote on Wednesday to elect the new government. For the time, since the state of Haryana was created in 1967, it has been witnessing a hotly contested triangular fight with some minor parties thrown in. The BJP, which had been a fringe force in the state, has emerged as a prime political party overnight demolishing all established political theories. The Congress, which has been in power since 2005, is facing the toughest battle and trying its best to save its clout under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) of the Chautala clan seems to have regained its strength and is giving a very tough fight to both the Congress and BJP.

Haryana has 90 Assembly seats and 10 Lok Sabha seats. Out of total 90 Assembly seats, 73 are general seats and 17 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs).

A total of 1351 candidates are in the fray. Of them, less than 10 per cent or just 109 candidates are women. 603 candidates are Independents. There are 16,357 polling booths in the state. 1,63,18,577 voters are eligible to exercise their constitutional right in the current election. Of them, 87,37,116 are male voters and 74,79,439 are female voters.

The Congress and the BJP are contesting in all 90 assembly seats. The INLD is contesting in 88 seats. The BSP is contesting in 87 seats. The HJC of Kuldip Bishnoi is contesting in 65 seats. The CPI and CPM are contesting in 14 and 17 seats respectively.

The Narnaul assembly seat with 1,26,804 voters has the least number of voters and Badshahpur with 3,16,567 voters has the highest number of voters in the state.

Election issues

- Congress depends on development

It is a fact that under Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Haryana has seen huge development. He is leading the party on the development plank and the achievements of his government in the past ten years. The party is highlighting the issue of price rise at the Centre and is running an aggressive campaign against the INLD on issues of "corruption and favouritism" during OP Chautala's rule.

However, it is finding it difficult to successfully take on the anti-incumbency.

- INLD expects Jats and sympathy votes

The INLD, which is fighting a 'do or die' battle is banking on the 'sympathy' wave and the clout of jailed former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala. It has given ticket to many defectors in a desperate bid to improve its chances of winning. It is also seeking votes in the name of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal, whose 100th birth anniversary was observed as a big political rally in Jind on September 25 to consolidate the party's position.

Almost 25 per cent of Haryana's population is Jat and the INLD is expecting most of the Jat votes in its favour.

- BJP banks on Modi wave

The BJP is solely depending on the 'Modi wave' and the anger of the people against Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The BJP calls it a 'misrule' of ten years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extensively campaigned across the state and stepped up attack on dynastic politics by raking the issue of the Vadra-DLF land deal approved by the Hooda government. The INLD's 'bahubali' or 'muscle power' image has also been attacked by Modi to mobilise all non-Jat votes in favour of the BJP. However, the BJP has no organisation set up and has too many defectors as its candidates.

The other parties like HJC, JCP and BSP are expecting non-Jat votes. If they manage to get a good number of votes, it may finally help the INLD to win more seats by splitting pro-Congress and pro-BJP votes in the state.

2009 Assembly Results

Total Seats - 90

Congress - 40

INLD - 31

HJC - 6

BJP - 4

BSP - 1

SAD - 1

Independents - 7

Key Candidates

Congress

- Bhupinder Singh Hooda - Garhi Sampla - Kiloi