Boost for BJP-JJP

With 22 seats falling in the BJP’s kitty and three in the JJP’s, the election results of Haryana’s 46 urban local bodies indicate that the ruling BJP-JJP alliance is regaining lost ground. The coalition government led by Manohar Lal Khattar and Dushyant Chautala seems to be on course to winning back the faith of the urban residents, who have been the saffron party’s key vote bank. The BJP had suffered a trust deficit during the farmers’ year-long agitation against the ‘black’ laws, which the Centre was forced to repeal later. Haryana’s border with Delhi was the epicentre of the November 2020-December 2021 protest. The people’s anger then — as was evident in the defeat of the BJP candidates in the two Assembly byelections held during that period — seems to have somewhat dissipated now. It was the Congress’ gain in Baroda and of the INLD then as it won the Ellenabad bypoll.

However, the latest municipal polls show that the main Opposition party, the Congress, has once again failed to keep up the momentum of the people’s tilt towards it. Its failure to set its house in order and control the internal bickerings at all levels — a trait that is becoming synonymous with the Congress — did it in this time too. With its grassroots-level organisational structure in Haryana lacking leadership for nearly a decade, it did not field any candidates on the party ticket in the municipal polls. Its claims of having backed the 19 Independents who won these elections must be taken with a pinch of salt. Especially also in view of the humiliation it suffered recently when the BJP managed to get Kuldeep Bishnoi’s vote to pip Congress nominee Ajay Maken for the Rajya Sabha seat even though the Congress had the numbers.

In a continuing slide, the INLD had to be content with one seat. With just one victorious candidate, it was a big blow to debutant AAP that had hoped to make inroads into Haryana after having come to power in Punjab.