How will AAP’s decision to go alone in the Haryana Assembly Election 2024 will impact the election dynamics of the state? Will it be a three-corner contest and help the BJP? As the talks with the Congress collapsed presumably under the pressure of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the AAP seems to have taken the strategy of hitting the party hard. It appears that taking the lessons from the state assembly elections in Gujarat and Goa, where the Arvind Kejriwal-led party left the Congress bleeding, it has decided to repeat the feat in Haryana. Now, the AAP is most likely to go all the guns blazing against a fellow member of the opposition INDIA coalition.
AAP To Field Candidates On All Seats?
Before announcing the names of 20 candidates on Monday, the AAP’s Haryana Chief, Sushil Gupta, had made it clear that the party would declare candidates for all 90 seats by evening if the Congress failed to finalize an alliance with it. Emphasizing that its cadre is prepared to take on the grand old party, he said that the workers are ready to fight elections in all 90 constituencies on their own.
How Will AAP Damage Congress?
It is evident that the Congress- AAP talks were in limbo much before the Delhi-based party declared the names of the candidates. Earlier on Friday, the Congress Party issued its first list containing the names of 31 candidates on Friday and the second list containing nine names on Sunday. It left the AAP fuming as many of the constituencies it wanted to contest, went out of negotiations.
Congress Strategy Focused On BJP
In an attempt to brush aside any kind of dissent and bickering within the party, the Congress adopted the strategy of giving tickets to all sitting members of the assembly. This is in contrast to the BJP, which dropped many MLAs and even ministers to control the damage caused by the anti-incumbency factor. The grand old party has 28 MLAs and it has already allotted tickets to 27 of them.
Hooda Checkmates AAP
Besides fielding former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, State unit Chief Udai Bhan from Hodal and wrestler Vinesh Phogat from Julana, the Congress has also fielded Mewa Singh from Ladwa to take on Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.
Dissent In Congress Over AAP Alliance
If media reports are to be believed, the Congress was under tremendous pressure from its local and state level leaders to not strike a deal with the AAP and give a foothold that may create problems in the future. Political observers also believed that the former chief minister was against any deal with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.
Is Hooda Playing His Cards?
It is also believed that Hooda not only wanted to have the final say in distributing the tickets, but he also wanted the lion’s share for the persons loyal to him so that there is no hurdle in becoming the chief minister if the party won the polls.
Hooda went on to say that “AAP is a non-entity in Haryana, and an alliance will not benefit Congress.” He also emphasized that the party should strengthen its cadre base and organisation. It
AAP Ups The Ante
Sensing the dissent against Hooda, the AAP upped the ante and staked claim to about a dozen odd seats in the 90-member Haryana Legislative Assembly. The AAP chalked out the strategy of claiming as many seats as possible and making compromises coming a few notches below. At the same time, it also kept on contacting the rebels of the Congress who were refused a ticket, only to anger the grand old party.
AAP’s Miserable Electoral Performance
According to the data released by the Election Commission of India, the AAP fought from the Kurukshetra seat in the Lok Sabha election and garnered a meager 3.94% of the votes despite being in alliance with the Congress. The earlier performance of the party too was not good. It got as low as 0.48% of the votes in the Haryana Assembly Election 2019. The party contested 46 seats and forfeited the deposits in all of them.
The Congress also joined hands with the AAP in Delhi for the Lok Sabha polls and lost all of them.
Chinks In INDIA Appear
The collapse of talks on seat sharing between the AAP and Congress is crucial for two reasons. First, it may make the contest three-cornered at least in ten constituencies giving a shot in the arm of the BJP. Secondly, it once again proved that the INDIA coalition is not a united and homogenous front, rather it is a loose front of parties to stop the saffron party.
