Haryana Assembly polls: Congress to highlight Agniveer issue, BJP to target Opposition party over corruption

New Delhi: The political temperature is hotting up in Haryana as Assembly polls are approaching with the BJP and the Congress trying to manage the social cleavages in the state that has witnessed series of agitations by farmers and women wrestlers as well as anger against the controversial military recruitment scheme ‘Agnipath’.

The BJP and Congress shared the spoils 5-5 in the Lok Sabha elections, with the latter wresting five Lok Sabha seats from the saffron party which managed to avoid an electoral rout amid rising anger against it from Jats and farmers in the state.

For the Congress, the June 4 results showed resurgence after a series of electoral defeats since 2014. At the same time, it is a huge relief for the BJP too as it managed to avoid a huge loss as predicted by some.

If one looks at the Lok Sabha data, both sides are headed for a neck-and-neck race in the state polls with the Congress leading in 46 Assembly seats and BJP in 44, while INLD and JJP are nowhere near the main parties. At present, Congress has 29 and BJP 41. Three independents and JJP (10) had withdrawn support to BJP.

With the Lok Sabha results sending a message that has left both sides hopeful, the faction-ridden Congress will be highlighting the unemployment scenario, Agniveer and farmers' issues, while BJP will go to voters with its record on maintaining law and order and its actions against corruption, targeting the previous Congress regime.

After an uninterrupted 10-year-rule, the BJP is hoping to retain power in the state by changing its Chief Minister ML Khattar, a Brahmin, with Nayab Singh Saini, who belongs to an OBC community, just ahead of Lok Sabha elections in a bid to woo backward community voters.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, a key BJP poll strategist, has visited the state twice in the past few weeks, the last being on Tuesday when he addressed an ‘OBC Samman Sammelan’ and announced the decision of increasing the creamy layer ceiling there and labeled Congress as an “anti-OBC” party, setting the party’s campaign tone.

On the other hand, Congress is banking on the leadership of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda, who has managed to have an iron grip of the party structure in the state much to the disappointment of his detractors like Randeep Surjewala and Kumari Selja.

Hooda had earlier this week launched his ‘Haryana Maange Hisaab’ with his son and Lok Sabha MP Deepender Hooda starting a ‘padayatra’, in a veiled echo of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, raising campaign points for the elections.

However, anti-Hooda leaders are absent from the ‘Haryana Maange Hisaab’ campaign. They allege that the campaign is part of placing the junior Hooda in state politics in a pole position with the senior Hooda saying that this would be his last election.

The central leadership has given a free hand to Hooda in Haryana affairs, as he is said to be the only leader who has the means and method to steer the campaign. Hooda camp has been strengthened with the exit of Kiran Choudhary, who was part of a faction that included Surjewala and Selja.

The biggest challenge before the Congress central leadership is to bring all warring factions on a single platform like it did in Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh before Assembly elections there. Candidate selection would be a huge headache with Hooda already making it clear to the leadership that tickets cannot be given to anybody and everybody.