Can Hooda deliver for the Congress in Haryana elections?

New Delhi: The Congress Party in Haryana has decided to fully stand by its senior leader and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Can Hooda deliver for the Congress in Haryana elections?

Out of the total 90 constituencies in Haryana, the Congress is contesting for 89, and Hooda’s loyalists were allotted party tickets for 72 seats. The Kumari Shelja group got 9 seats. Till the last minute, the Congress high command had to do a lot of tightrope walking to convince its party men, who were denied tickets.

With the withdrawal of candidates process over on Sunday, September 15, 2024, Haryana has now entered a real campaign mode for the October 5, 2024, election.

The ticket distribution did not lead to a demonstration outside the All India Congress Committee headquarters. For this, the credit should go to senior leader Ajay Maken, whose strategic and tactful handling of the situation was for all to see. Ajay convinced the party high command to release the lists in phases, seven, perhaps, and the last one, where there were contentious seats, only towards the end, so not many got the opportunity to demonstrate at the AICC headquarters. All dissidents were persuaded to withdraw their names by September 15, which was the last date for withdrawal and by coincidence also happened to be Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s birthday.

There are 27 Jats, who have been given tickets by the Congress Party, the same as last time, and other communities have been accommodated, depending on the winnability. The Punjabis, who have a population scattered all over the state, and have a dominant presence in many urban areas, have been given six seats, as compared to two last time. The difference in ticket distribution this time as compared to 2019 is that there were no quotas which were allotted to various state leaders based on previous experience, whereas those who were selected by some of the top functionaries were to choose from the applicants and only identify those who had win ability on their side.

The Congress has fielded 12 women, more than any other party and this could help in the campaign. In deciding the seats, the party has accommodated the son of Randeep Surjewala, Chaudhury Bhidendra Singh, and some others. The party has allocated 12 tickets to Jatavs and aligned sub-castes within the Dalit Community and Five non-Jatavs, out of a total of 17 seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC), showing its continuing reliance on the dominant SC community as its support base.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which was also facing dissensions from those who have been denied tickets is also trying to sort out the differences. The issues across the State concern elementary matters related to jobs and livelihood. For instance, the slogan of Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan has Jai Pahalwan added to it, given Olympian Vinesh Phogat contesting the polls and her colleague Bajrang Punia joining the Congress. The opposition to the Agniveer scheme, the farmers’ agitation and the wrestlers’ protests, shall be factors in the elections. The BJP is aware of this and has reportedly asked Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the former boss of the Wrestling Federation of India to not open his mouth and refrain from giving statements that could harm party nominees.

Out of the total 17 reserved seats, the BJP has fielded nine non-Jatavs and eight Jatavs, clearly reflecting its aggressive approval of sub-divisions of SCs. There is a virtual revolt in the BJP over the denial of tickets. The party is contesting all 90 seats and dropped 16 sitting MLAs including four ministers. The BJP has been in power for the last ten years and is perceptibly facing strong anti-incumbency coupled with revolts and resignations at various levels. Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh’s protest against Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini sent wrong signals to cadres. Another senior minister Anil Vij made it clear that he would be a strong CM candidate after the polls.

On the other hand, the break-up of talks between the Congress and the Aam Admi Party (AAP) for a poll alliance has been welcomed by many in the Congress. The AAP has decided to field candidates in all 90 seats despite its negligible support base in the home state of its supremo Arvind Kejriwal.

It is also a matter of debate whether the presence of AAP candidates would harm the Congress or the BJP. The outcome would determine how the people voted in the end. However, like always, Independents are likely to emerge victorious on some seats while smaller parties too may win a few in the contest which is seen largely between the Congress and the BJP.

*Senior journalist