Crowded battles crystalize in Haryana, J&K polls
Image credit X.com @JKNC
BJP & Congress faceoff in crowded battlefields in Haryana, J&K
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, September 12: Seven days before the first phase of polling for Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, the Baramula Lok Sabha MP, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, walked out of the Tihar Jail. After a decade, the electorate for the first time will cast their ballots in Assembly poll on September 18 for 24 constituencies in the first phase in J&K.
The Baramula MP is popularly known as Engineer Rashid. He had slayed former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah in the electoral battle of the Lok Sabha elections.
Rashid’s Jammu and Kashmir’s Awami Itehad Party (JKAIP) has emerged a big factor in the Assembly elections. Former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti told reporters that it was curious to see the resources available with Raashid’s party.
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Mufti was wondering at the scale of the campaigning by Rashid’s outfit. His candidates have unleashed carpet-bombing in electioneering. They are addressing significantly higher number of public meetings.
The Kashmir valley has 47 Assembly seats. The Jammu region has another 43 Assembly seats.
The Lok Sabha verdict template, if repeated, will throw a hung Assembly for Jammu and Kashmir. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won two Lok Sabha seats.
The National Conference had won two Lok Sabha seats. Rashid entered the Lok Sabha from the fifth parliamentary constituency.
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If the J&K polls throw a hung Assembly, Rashid may hold the key for the government formation. A slew of smaller outfits and independents also threaten to stop the NC-Congress alliance from wresting power in Srinagar.
Abdullahs will still be confident to triumph over Rashids. The NC had seen a surge of 14 per cent vote share in the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP vote share had dipped by over one per cent.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is the new kid in the town in the Haryana Assembly elections. The Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit threatens to play the spoiler for the Congress.
Unlike Rashid, Kejriwal is yet to walk out of the Tihar Jail. The AAP had hoped for his early release to stitch an alliance with the Congress.
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The maxim of ‘ayaram gayaram’ in the Indian politics has roots in the Haryana politics. The land of Lals has seen generational shift in politics with the advent of the BJP.
The BJP insiders believe that a miracle can only save the party in retaining power in Haryana. The anti-incumbency of 10 years of the BJP rule in Haryana had handed over five of the 10 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress a few months ago.
The Indian National Lok Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party are also vying for Jat-Dalit vote base consolidation. The Janata Jananayak Party and the Bhim Army are also hoping for the Jat-Dalit vote base polarisation.
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Jats constitute the main vote catchment segment of the Congress. In Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the Congress has a towering Jat. But the Congress is faction-ridden, as always, with aspirational Kumari Selja and Randeep Singh Surjewala pining for days of reckoning in the state politics.
From Jammu and Kashmir to Haryana, the political turfs show crowded space. Conventionally, a crowded space suits the BJP. The saffron outfit holds no chance in straight fights in J&K and Haryana per political pundits.
Yet, the BJP’s principal foe remains the Congress in two polls. The Congress has task on hand to step up anti-incumbency heat against the BJP.
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