No Oppn alliance to boost BJP in Haryana LS poll

Chandigarh: With political parties unable to forge an alliance in Haryana, the state is going to witness a multi-corner contest this time in parliamentary elections. After the BSP snapped its alliance with the INLD, the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), headed by Dushyant Chautala, and the AAP also decided to part ways. The possibility of any pre-poll alliance is now getting bleak in Haryana with each passing day.

The Congress has not indicated possibility of any alliance with other political parties. The fragmented Opposition could help the BJP at the hustings if there is no final twist before the elections and Opposition parties form some kind of alliance.

The recent announcement by the AAP that it will not form any alliance with Dushyant Chautala-headed JJP has dimmed the hope of Opposition unity. The Haryana state unit chief Naveen Jaihind announced that the AAP would contest Lok Sabha and state elections alone in the state.  

A disagreement over sharing of seats led to the alliance not materialising between the two outfits, said Mr Jaihind in a tweet. He added that the seat-sharing formula suggested by the JJP would have helped the BJP, so the AAP is not going to ally with it.

“The AAP will contest all 10 Lok Sabha and 90 Vidhan sabha seats in Haryana,” he said.

“We have ended talks of an alliance with the JJP. It was giving the AAP two seats in Haryana and asking for one in Delhi,” he said.

Mr Jaihind said in the tweet that the JJP was in a world of its own and the formula suggested by it would have instead helped the BJP. “We tried to make the JJP understand, but could not,” he added in the tweet.

The AAP had instead demanded a 50-50 seat-sharing formula in Haryana. It had suggested that the two parties fight on five seats each in parliamentary elections and 45 seats each in Assembly elections. “We had at least 15 rounds of meeting,’’ said Mr Jaihind.

On the possibility of the AAP reconsidering the decision, Mr Jaihind said it rests with the party high command.

However, JJP head Dushyant Chautala is still hopeful of an alliance. Mr Chautala said that a three-member committee of his party was still exploring the possibilities of an alliance with AAP.”In national interest and for the sake of development in Haryana, we are ready to take like-minded people alone. Else, our organisation structure is in place and we too are ready to contest all parliamentary and Assembly seats in Haryana,” said Mr Chautala.

Earlier, as a fall-out of drubbing in Jind bypoll, the BSP and INLD snapped their alliance, with Maywati slamming the Chautala family-feud.

BSP Haryana incharge Meghraj said that decision to break ties with the INLD was taken by BSP chief after considering the demand of the people of Haryana. “Our leader Mayawati gave them a chance for staying united. When we entered into an alliance, the INLD was one party. But after Chautala family split, we got a chance to judge them in Jind bypoll,” Mr Meghraj said.

Political observers feel that in case BJP in Haryana decides to go for simultaneous Ls and Assembly polls, the Opposition parties would be caught on backfoot giving them little time to any alliance in the state.