Disunity plagues Oppn ahead of Haryana polls

Haryana is bracing for a close electoral contest between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. Other players in the fray include Indian National Lok Dal and Jannayak Janata Party which are trying to get their own share in the pie. The Haryana polls are going to be a litmus test for the BJP and the Congress as well as the INDIA bloc.

While the ruling BJP is facing an uphill battle, the Congress is facing the anger of Jat community in the state. On the other hand, the bloc INDIA is not as united as it was during the Lok Sabha polls. In fact, it appears that the bloc INIDA is slowly falling apart. The kind of unity that was seen earlier among the INDIA bloc constituents is fast waning and everyone seems to be pulling in different directions.

For example, the efforts to bring Congress and Aam Aadmi party together backfired because they could not agree on seat-sharing plans. The AAP wanted a large number of seats, including the crucial ones that the Congress was hesitant to give up; thus the seat-sharing negotiations didn’t proceed as expected. This is not only in regard to Haryana elections but also in case of Delhi Assembly elections. During Lok Sabha polls, all INDIA bloc partners were united and took on the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, charging that he was resorting to vindictive attitude against Delhi government and its Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge were very vociferous then. But now things are different.

Congress and AAP have fallen apart. They failed in seat sharing and both are contesting Delhi Assembly elections separately. The Congress and the Samajwadi Party are also not on good terms as they were during Lok Sabha elections. During the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress supported AAP and condemned the arrests of AAP ministers. But after the alliance talks fell flat, what stand will it take now? Will it give a clean chit to Kejriwal or will it take a ‘U’ turn remains to be seen. AAP has blown the poll bugle early to overtake Congress and other parties in campaign. If Congress talks about Adani and Ambani or Sikhs not having freedom to wear turban or kada, it will backfire in Delhi polls. So, what stand it will take in regard to liquor scam needs to be seen.

TMC led by Mamata Banerjee was an ally of bloc INDIA before the Lok Sabha elections. Now both have turned bitter rivals since the incident of the rape and murder of a junior doctor which led to nationwide agitation. Both Congress and Mamata have since been unsparing and lashing out at each other.

In Maharashtra, which is also due to go to polls soon, the situation is no different. Though Congress and Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray are partners in the INDIA bloc, there are serious differences between them now. Congress feels that it is stronger than Shiv Sena and should be the lead partner. This the Sharad Pawar’s National Congress Party may agree to, but not Uddhav Thackeray. So to what extent it will impact seat-sharing is to be seen. The possibility of Uddhav Thackeray’s party contesting separately is not being ruled out.

Against this backdrop, the Haryana assembly polls just about 15 days away are poised to become a case study of opposition strength vis-a-vis the BJP.