Haryana CM Nayab Saini at a public meeting in support of BJP candidate Kapoor Valmiki (L), Rahul Gandhi with former BJP leader Ashok Tanwar as the latter joins Congress.
Credit: PTI Photos
New Delhi: The campaigning for the Haryana Assembly election ended on Thursday with the Congress hoping to crush BJP’s dreams of returning to power for a record third term.
Around two crore voters in the state are eligible to vote on Saturday to elect 90 MLAs while the counting of votes will be on October 8. The BJP had formed a government despite it failing to reach the half-way mark of 46 in 2019 after securing the support of JJP with which it snapped ties earlier this year.
Top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held two rallies in Nuh and Bhawaria on the last day while BJP’s top campaigners Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained absent from the campaign trail in the last two days and Home Minister Amit Shah for four days.
The main fight in Haryana is between BJP and Congress while AAP, JJP-ASP(Kanshiram) and INLD-BSP candidate are also in the fray. Along with the winner, all eyes will also be on how INLD and JJP led by sons of OP Chautala fare in the elections.
Congress is banking on the ire of ‘jawan-kisan-pehlwan’ (soldier, farmer, wrestler) against the BJP. The farmers were upset with the BJP over the handling of their protests and reluctance for providing legal backing for Minimum Support Price (MSP), on ‘Agniveer’ scheme and wrestlers’ protests against their sexual harassment.
However, the BJP believes that its social engineering and translating support of non-Jats into votes would help them overcome anti-incumbency and Congress campaign, which is also highlighting law and order situation and bleak employment scenario. The BJP has focused its campaign on the performance of the “double-engine” government.
Both the parties also faced factionalism with state leaders working in cross purposes.
Former Chief Minister ML Khattar was kept away from rallies held by Modi fearing that giving prominence to him could fire while leaders like Anil Vij and Rao Inderjit Singh publicly claimed that they want to be Chief Ministers though Shah had made it clear that incumbent Naib Singh Saini would get the top post.
In Congress, senior MP Kumari Selja refused to hit the campaign trail protesting against her supporters not getting tickets while raising her claim for the Chief Ministership. She returned to campaign only last week in Rahul’s first rally.
Congress sources had indicated that Rahul was upset with infighting and the way the campaign was conducted. However, since September 30, he held a series of campaign meetings in Haryana.
Assembly Elections 2024 | In the first assembly polls since the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi and the BJP face a rejuvenated and vindicated Opposition in the Haryana assembly polls. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir is voting after almost a decade and it remains to be seen how the abrogation of Article 370 has impacted the political landscape of the Valley. Track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.