The Hindu : Congress yet to get off the blocks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 31, 2004

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Other States - Haryana

Congress yet to get off the blocks

By Rajesh Ahuja

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 30. The faction-ridden Haryana unit of the Congress seems to be lagging behind in launching its election campaign for the 10 Lok Sabha seats as the party satraps have not yet been able to choose the candidates. Even though polling is scheduled for May 10 and the official notification is due on April 15, the other parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling Indian National Lok Dal and the Haryana Vikas Party besides the Ekta Shakti floated by a bureaucrat, Virender Verma, have already got into the nitty-gritty of electioneering.

The INLD has declared eight out of its 10 candidates, the BJP five and the HVP six. According to insiders, the remaining candidates are likely to be announced after the Congress releases its list. The Bahujan Samaj Party has decided to contest in Haryana on its own thereby ending speculation that it could enter into a tie-up with the INLD. The BJP has renominated its five sitting MPs, including the Minister of State for Home, I.D. Swami. The Central BJP leadership, which ended the pact with the INLD on the eve of the polls, is said to be floundering and searching for suitable candidates to be fielded in the remaining five constituencies.

While the INLD supremo and Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, is addressing election meetings and rallies all over the State, the BJP too has been organising meetings at the constituency and district level for its political survival in a State where it has hardly any base. However, the Bharat Uday Yatra of the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, which passed through the State evoked lukewarm response even in the Sonepat Parliamentary constituency which is seen by the BJP as its "stronghold".

The BJP leadership is still reportedly making efforts to revive the pact with the former Chief Minister and HVP supremo, Bansi Lal, and there are indications that the tie-up could materialise sooner or later as Mr. Bansi Lal's anger against the BJP for ditching him in 1999 is "gradually thawing". There are also reports that the Akali Dal chief, Prakash Singh Badal, is making efforts to remove the misunderstanding between Mr. Chautala and the BJP leadership. However, the BJP seems to be in no mood to relent at this juncture especially after the hard-hitting attacks on it and Mr. Advani by Mr. Chautala.

Reports from the field indicate that the Congress could make solid inroads and reverse the 1999 scenario, when it could not bag even a single seat, by winning a sizeable number of seats thanks to the anti-incumbency factor working against the Chautala government, the growing unrest among the farmers and other sections of society and the collapse of the INLD-BJP alliance. However, the failure of the Congress leadership to stem the infighting among the State-level leaders, which is coming in the way of announcement of candidates, could mar the prospects of the party.

According to party insiders, the party high command should make the leadership issue clear even though the Assembly elections are scheduled for early next year.

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Congress yet to get off the blocks