Haryana Assembly Elections: Will Regional Parties Be Kingmakers?
NDTV
The BJP, after its break-up with Dushyant Chautala's JJP (Jannayak Janta Party), plans to ally with smaller parties while the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are going solo.
Politics ahead of the October 1 Haryana election is getting interesting. A five-cornered contest is shaping up this time. The BJP, after its break-up with Dushyant Chautala's JJP (Jannayak Janta Party), plans to ally with smaller parties while the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are going solo. The INLD (Indian National Lok Dal) has allied with BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) and on August 27, JJP declared its partnership with Chandrashekhar Azad's ASP-KR (Azad Samaj Party-Kanshi Ram).
As the BJP and Congress, the two major political forces in the state, get battle-ready, banking largely on the OBC (Other Backward Class) and Jat vote banks, the Scheduled Castes (SCs), who comprise around 20% of the state's population (per the 2011 Census), could be the deciding factor in the polls this time.
With 10 years of anti-incumbency in play, Haryana may vote differently. When it comes to assembly elections, the local issues take priority.
