Haryana: BJP game for joint Assembly, Lok Sabha elections

Chandigarh: After the success of BJP in Gujarat and Himachal elections, the Haryana unit of the party is toying with the idea of advancing the Assembly polls by six months and hold them along with the Lok Sabha elections in May 2019 to benefit from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity.

The Manohar Lal Khattar government, which has been under attack for many administrative lapses, favours the joint-poll proposal as it may stretch the resources of Opposition parties, including the Congress, and prevent them from putting special focus on the state during the Assembly contest.

Haryana’s proximity to Delhi makes it easy for central leaders of all parties to campaign here. However, if Assembly and parliamentary elections are held simultaneously, leaders of Opposition parties from of Delhi, especially those of the Congress, would be busy campaigning all over the country making it difficult for them to focus only on Haryana, said a BJP leader.      

The Khattar government is also expecting national issues to overshadow its so-called failures if joint polls are held. The Jat agitation and the build up of Dera Sacha Sauda supporters in Panchkula, which lead to violence as well as killing of people, exposed the state government’s inability to handle tense situations and gave enough ammunition to the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

However, BJP leaders in Haryana think that they could ride on the Modi wave and repeat the 2014’s victorious performance in 2019 by advancing the Assembly elections by six months. The parliamentary elections in the country are held in April-May, while during the same year, Assembly polls were conducted in Haryana in October.

As per the schedule, the next Assembly polls in the state are due for October 2019, however, the party leadership has expressed that it is ready to face polls along with 2019 general elections.

Chief minister Khattar has said that he has no objection in going for Assembly polls along with the parliamentary elections if the Centre takes such call. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already advocated the need for simultaneous Lok Sabha and state elections, saying that conducting elections after a span of few months is hectic as well as expensive.So, if the Centre comes up with such a suggestion, we are ready for the joint polls,” he said.