New Delhi: A political analyst who is familiar with the Haryana politics recently said - it is more the merrier for Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. If there are more political parties in the fray, it will finally help the Congress by dividing the opposition votes.
The same seems to be happening in Haryana, this time. Hooda, who has been in power for the past 10 years, knows that he is facing a very tough election. The ground situation is not at all in favour of the Congress. The BJP's spectacular victory in the Lok Sabha elections has badly affected the morale of the Congress. The Congress could win just one Lok Sabha seat from the entire state - Hooda's son Deepender Hooda's seat Rohtak.
The jailed Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) is also showing signs of recovery. Chautala's grandson Dushyant Chautala won Hisar Lok Sabha seat in a very tough election. The INLD is hoping to emerge as the single largest party and if it does not happen, then at least the second largest party.
The buoyant BJP is hoping to come to power on its own with 45 plus seats. It has already started its Mission 45 campaign across the state which has 90 Assembly constituencies. Hooda knows that the Congress can still do well only if the opposition votes are split among several players in the fray.
According to local analysts and political leaders, he is actively encouraging Kuldip Bishnoi's Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), Gopal Kanda's Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) and Venod Sharma's Jan Chetna Party (JCP) along with BJP and INLD rebels. Kanda, the main accused in airhostess Gitika Sharma's suicide case, came out of jail on bail recently. Venod Sharma is more famously known for the 'Jessica Lal' murder case, in which his son Manu Sharma is serving life sentence at Tihar jail in Delhi.
Kuldip Bishnoi is very angry with the BJP after it ditched him. He is hoping for a badly fractured mandate, where he can play the role of a kingmaker. If the BJP or the Congress falls short of a majority and if Bishnoi's party wins more than 10 seats, he can demand his pound of flesh.
Nobody is expecting Gopal Kanda and Venod Sharma to win a significant number of seats or emerge as kingmakers. But, in a small state like Haryana, they can easily dent the prospects of the BJP and the INLD by getting a few thousand opposition votes in some crucial assembly seats.
The fragmentation of the opposition votes will help the ruling Congress. Reacting to these allegations, Hooda said, "I am not desperate to encourage these fringe parties. We don't do this. We will fight on our own strength."
Bishnoi, Kanda and Sharma - all three are also dismissing such allegations. They claim that they are fighting against the massive corruption of Hooda led Congress government in the state and there is no question of backing him directly or indirectly.
However, both the BJP and the INLD argue that Hooda is behind these sub-regional or fringe political parties contesting in Haryana assembly elections. A local BJP leader said, "It is a do or die battle for Hooda. If the BJP or the INLD comes to power, he will be in a big trouble. What has happened to the Chautalas might happen to him. He is making all possible efforts to prevent the victory of the BJP or the INLD. If he can't win, he wants to ensure that there will be a 'khichdi' government."
Comments
0 comment