The AAP and the Congress had contested the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year together as allies under the opposition’s INDIA banner.However, with the two parties failing to reach an agreement on sharing of seats, they are set to faceoff as rivals in the state elections next month. Reports say the Congress was willing to leave 5 to 6 seats for AAP, but Kejriwal’s party wanted at least 10. The AAP later announced to contest all the 90 assembly seats.
The Congress is upbeat about its electoral prospects in Haryana, riding high on the party’s recent success in Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year. The grand old party managed to wrest 5 seats from the ruling BJP to settle for a 5-5 score in the national elections. It also increased its voteshare from 28% in 2019 Lok Sabha elections to 43.67% in 2024.
The AAP, on the other hand, could not win any seat in Lok Sabha elections but it also made impressive vote share gains. The party’s vote share increased from 0.36% in 2019 to nearly 4% in 2024. The party, which had got just 0.48% of vote share in the 2019 assembly elections, hopes to build on the Lok Sabha momentum and make its debut in the state assembly. With governments in neighbouring Delhi and Punjab, AAP is confident that people of Haryana will support Kejriwal’s governance model.
AAP gets Kejriwal boost
Arvind Kejriwal’s release from jail and his surprise decision to quit as Delhi chief minister is likely to boost AAP’s Haryana campaign. Kejriwal will open his election campaign with a roadshow in Jagadhri constituency. He is scheduled to participate in 13 events across 11 districts during the first phase of his campaign. The AAP leaders are upbeat about Kejriwal impact in elections.
“This time, for the first time, Arvind Kejriwal has come to Haryana with AAP. So, a new and great option for change is in front of the people of Haryana. They have seen the work done by AAP in Punjab, and have seen the government of Delhi. After seeing everything, the people will go for a change and vote for Arvind Kejriwal’s new and honest politics and AAP,” AAP national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak said.
Should the Congress be wary of Kejri-Wall?
When the Congress was in discussions with AAP for a seat-sharing deal in Haryana, Arvind Kejriwal was in jail in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. The AAP campaign then was being spearheaded by other party leaders and Kejriwal’s wife Sunita. However, that scenario has now changed. With a fortnight to go for the voting, Kejriwal will lead the charge and the party’s campaign is likely to gain momentum.
Sandeep Pathak has said Kejriwals’ initial campaign will cover Dabwali, Rania, Bhiwani, Meham, Kalayat, Assandh and Ballabhgarh constituencies, among others, in the coming days setting the stage for a three-cornered contest in some of these seats. The fact that this could lead to a division of anti-BJP votes in the state would worry the Congress.
Congress veteran and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who has a tight grip over the party’s state unit, has maintained that the next month’s elections will be a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress and the people will “reject the vote katu (vote cutter) parties.”
Hooda was reportedly against any tie-up with the AAP and the Congress leadership seems to have backed him to the hilt. But the Congress would do well to remember how overdependence on state leadership had cost the party dearly in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh assembly elections last year. Congress high command would hope that Hooda’s confidence is not misplaced and Kejriwal does not play the spoilsport by splitting anti-BJP votes.