After a good performance in the Lok Sabha, Congress is quite excited about the Haryana Assembly elections. The party is confident that it will be able to achieve the magic figure of majority in the elections by riding on the anti-BJP wave of ten years of incumbency. But, the party faces many challenges in achieving this goal. The internal factionalism in the party along with the announcement of Aam Aadmi Party to contest the Assembly elections alone has increased the difficulties of Congress.
Both Congress and Aam Aadmi Party are contesting the Haryana Assembly elections separately. While both the parties contested the Lok Sabha elections in alliance. However, AAP candidate Sushil Gupta lost from Kurukshetra by 29 thousand votes. But Congress contested nine seats in the state and succeeded in winning five seats. At the same time, its vote percentage also increased by about 15 percent. Therefore, the party is calculating the profit and loss of AAP contesting the elections.
Congress, AAP and other regional parties are hopeful that they will be able to break into BJP’s vote bank by using the issues of the anti-incumbency wave of the last ten years and the displeasure of farmers and wrestlers. On the other hand, BJP is confident that division of votes between Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and other parties will not harm it politically. It will be able to maintain its lead this time as well. The results of Gujarat and Goa elections increase BJP’s confidence.
In Gujarat and Goa, Congress has suffered due to Aam Aadmi Party contesting the elections alone. The party suffered a lot due to Aam Aadmi Party making inroads into Congress’s vote bank. In the 2022 Gujarat elections, while BJP managed to win a record 156 seats, Congress suffered a loss of 60 seats compared to 2019. AAP won only five seats, but on many seats its votes were more than the margin of victory and defeat between BJP and Congress.
In Haryana, the support for Aam Aadmi Party has increased in the areas adjoining the capital Delhi. AAP had performed well in the Lok Sabha elections. Hence, Aam Aadmi Party has high hopes in the assembly elections. In such a situation, if Aam Aadmi Party contests the elections with full force, the anti-BJP vote may get divided. BJP may get political advantage from this.
