Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 19
It is advantage BJP in the Haryana Assembly elections with at least 20 of its candidates enjoying clear edge over their rivals and others locked in contest with either the Congress or the JJP, or both, as campaigning for the October 21 polls ended today.
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Besides, the BJP seems to be in a comfortable situation in some seats in Jind, Gurugram and Faridabad, as also in the Ahirwal belt of Rewari and Mahendragarh. In contrast, there are hardly four to five seats where the Congress or the JJP appear to be having a distinct edge, though the former is giving fight in over 50 seats and the latter in over 20 segments.
Of the nine Assembly seats under Sirsa LS segment, the BJP seems to be in the main contest on all but Rania while the INLD, which used to win a majority of seats here, is in contest at Ellenabad alone whereas its offshoot JJP could be a force to watch out for in Tohana, Narwana and Fatehabad. The BJP is in main contest in all nine seats under Hisar LS constituency, while the Congress doesn’t seem to have much presence in Uchana Kalan and Narnaund.
In Bhiwani (Mahendragarh LS segment), the BJP is in contest with the Congress on some seats like Tosham and Mahendragarh while the JJP has made the contest triangular in most other segments. The contest appears to be triangular in seats under Rohtak, Sonepat and Kurukshetra LS areas.
In Ambala Assembly seats, the contest is largely between the BJP and the Congress — or the BSP in one seat — while in Karnal, the JJP has also emerged as a force. In Faridabad and Gurugram LS areas, the contest is again largely between the BJP and the Congress while the JJP is making the fight triangular in some places.
In Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s bastion of Rohtak, Sonepat and Jhajjar, there is a discernible sentiment for a Jat CM (read Hooda). But, the ghost of Jat quota violence, that cast its shadow in the LS polls with polarisation of votes on caste lines, can be felt again this time. The emergence of Dushyant Chautala as the third force here is working to the disadvantage of the Congress as his JJP is likely to eat into Jat vote share. Even in the Hooda’s bastion, there is an underlying sentiment among non-Jats that the BJP was “likely to retain power”. Vigilance along the Delhi border has been stepped up and 75,000 security men have been mobilised.
Male voters 97,74,543
Female voters 85,07,775
Third gender 252
Total voters 1.82 crore
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