Chandigarh: With both the BJP and the Congress locking their candidate list for the Haryana polls scheduled for October 5, both parties appear to have banked upon their tried-and-tested poll strategies.
Even though the ruling BJP replaced almost one-fourth of its total of 90 candidates in order to beat anti-incumbency, the party’s list is still dominated by OBC, Brahmin and Punjabi candidates.
The party’s rise in Haryana is majorly attributed to non-Jat communities aligning with it. The party’s latest list of candidates shows that there is no major change in its strategy in yet another state polls.
On the contrary, with as many as 24 Jat candidates in fray, the Congress has largely banked upon the Jat community to thwart the BJP from winning its third term in power.
By giving more prominence to supporters of the party’s popular Jat face and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the distribution of tickets, the party has also sent a strong message that it has stands firm with the community, which has huge political dominance in central Haryana.
Dalit vote crucial too
Meanwhile, both parties are equally trying to woo Dalit votes, as many poll observers find their support critical for the formation of a majority government in the state.
Haryana has 17 Scheduled Caste (SC)-reserved seats, which means that a party winning more SC seats will have better chances to cross the majority mark.
In the last few elections, including the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has seen a reduction in its support from the Dalit community, while on the contrary, the Congress made significant gains.
In order to keep Dalits on its side, the Congress accommodated several supporters aligned with its prominent Dalit leader and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja.
However, poll observers predicted far greater Dalit support to the Congress in the event that Selja was directly fielded in the election, which she also desired – but the party did not entertain her request.
This, many believe, may allow the BJP to revive some support among Dalits if Selja is not seen actively working for the party in the coming election.
The threat of a divide in Dalit votes also looms large after both regional parties of Haryana, the Jannayak Janta Party and the Indian National Lok Dal, stitched pre-poll alliances with Dalit-focused political parties, the Aazad Samaj Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party respectively, to woo the community.
Congress managed to keep dissidence low, BJP goes haywire
Unlike the BJP, which faced a major internal revolt after its large-scale replacement of candidates, the Congress evaded dissidence by banking upon its sitting MLAs, old faces and party loyalists in its list of candidates.
Commenting upon the ticket distribution strategies of both the BJP and the Congress, political analyst Kushal Pal told The Wire that the BJP rose to the power in Haryana majorly on the support of non-Jat communities and its overall strategy remained the same in this election as well.
As far as the Congress was concerned, he said that there was also no change to the party’s strategy in terms of leaning towards Jats. But what set its candidate list different from that of the BJP is that it successfully managed to keep dissidence low.
While the BJP dropped several old timers and party loyalists like Kavita Jain and Ram Bilas Sharma, the Congress kept its list simple by banking upon old timers, sitting MLAs and party loyalists, Pal noted.
This shows that the Congress was trying to enter the poll fray with a united face, which appeared to be missing in the BJP camp. “This may very well be a deciding factor in this election, he added.
Another major highlight in the Congress’s list is how it tried to please different factions within the party.
Balram Sharma, head of the political science department at the D.A.V. College in Karnal, told The Wire that while Hooda managed to get the lion’s share in ticket distribution, supporters of other factions headed by Selja and Surjewala too have been accommodated in the party’s list.
It remains to be seen if all factions will be satisfied with the distribution of tickets. The key for the Congress is for all its factions to come together and work for the party, he said.
