Feeling pulse of election centres

Saturday, 01/06/2013

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CHANDIGARH: Much is being read into the probable outcome of elections to the seven newly created municipal corporations in Haryana.

The build-up is predictable in view of next year’s Lok Sabha and assembly elections. But the million dollar question is whether or not these elections in anyway will impact the 2014 assembly polls.

While the BJP and Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) have decided to contest the elections on respective party symbols, the ruling Congress and Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) have decided against fielding official party nominees and given a free hand to their leaders to contest as independents.

The BJP, a party that relies heavily on urban vote bank in the state has traditionally contested the municipal elections on the party symbol and done well.

The INLD which is for the first time contesting the local bodies elections on the party symbol is probably testing its strength and the outpour of “public sympathy” in the wake of sentencing of their chief, Om Prakash Chautala and his elder son, Ajay, in the JBT teachers’ recruitment case.

The Congress has stayed away from using the party symbol primarily because of the fear of anti-incumbency and more to avoid a mad scramble for party tickets which could have triggered bitter infighting. Kuldeep Bishnoi’s HJC that primarily has an urban base surprisingly decided not to contest municipal election on the party symbol.

Many political analysts feel that it will be quite far-fetched to link the outcome of these elections with the Lok Sabha or assembly polls in Haryana. There are, however, others who feel that a good showing by the BJP or INLD will harm the prospects of the Congress.

Prof RS Yadav, chairperson, political science department, Kurukshetra University, says the elections would have a bearing on the Lok Sabha and assembly polls. “The municipal contest will determine the strategies and priorities of each political party for the elections later, reflect on the alliance of BJP-HJC and give a clear indication on the choice of the urban voters,” he said, adding that the results would show the Congress and INLD the areas to improvise.

PANCHKULA
The municipal corporation (MC) polls in Panchkula will be a litmus test for the local legislator from Congress, DK Bansal, as he has released his list of candidates and started campaigning for them. This is in spite of Congress not naming anyone as an official candidate.

In some of the wards, Bansal’s candidates are pitted against supporters of Ambala MP and union minister Kumari Selja. The outcome of elections will test Bansal’s hold in the Panchkula constituency.

The race to mayor will be an interesting one. If the Congress gets a majority and Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s man Ravinder Rawal becomes the mayor, he will be in race for a contender for a ticket from the Panchkula segment against Bansal. Moreover, the mayor will be equally influential as the legislators from Panchkula and Kalka, as he can carry out development works in a larger area.

The BJP is on a sticky wicket this time. The delimitation has had an adverse impact on the party. It has given ticket to only one sitting councillor. The party workers are upset at the BJP’s move to back Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) leader Chander Mmohan’s supporters in some of the wards. The former deputy chief minister has not only altered the BJP list and got tickets for two of his loyalists but also made the party announce support for two of his supporters. The results will decide how the alliance will divide the Kalka and Panchkula assembly constituencies between them.

As for the INLD, it has nothing to lose. As a lot of Congress candidates are fighting against each other, it is going to benefit the Chautala’s party. BHARTESH SINGH THAKUR

ROHTAK
In the chief minister’s citadel, one can safely assume that the ruling Congress will have an upper hand. On the impact of these elections on the parliamentary and assembly contests next year, Prof Satish Singh Chahar at Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, says that MC elections are bound to have an effect on later contests as voters are the same.

Expressing hope on Congress-backed candidates, Rohtak legislator Bharat Bhushan Batra said: “All Congress-backed candidates will win and the post of mayor will be ours.” He says that the election will not have an impact on Lok Sabha or assembly elections. SAT SINGH

KARNAL AND PANIPAT
Caste factor seems to be a key issue in the municipal corporation elections this year. Though the local issues are being discussed by the candidates, the political analysts say the real political fight is between the Punjabi-speaking community and others, particularly the trading community.

Those maintaining a close eye on the municipal electioneering say that as the caste plays a crucial role in Haryana politics, the fallout of the results will have significant impact on the assembly and parliamentary elections as well.

Candidates are contesting according to the caste-based population in almost all segments of these two municipalities. The election has exposed the internal conflict of the Congress where a faction is helping those who are known opponents of the Congress legislators in Panipat and Karnal.

“Only that political figure will hold the show whose close aide occupies the office of the mayor,” said Pardeep Sachdeva, chairperson, department of public administration, Kurukshetra University.

He said as the Congress was not contesting on the party symbol, the INLD and BJP were using the opportunity to “expose the maladministration” of ruling Congress regime in the state.

“Results of the MC elections will have more effect on the political future of the INLD than the BJP, as the former’s image has been tarnished after the conviction of its chief OP Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala in the JBT scam. VISHAL JOSHI

AMBALA AND YAMUNANAGAR
The erstwhile civic bodies of Ambala city and Ambala Cantt, which had the Congress in the majority, have now been merged and upgraded as the municipal corporation by including parts of Naraingarh assembly constituency.

In Ambala, thus, at stake are the standings of senior Congress leader and (city) sitting MLA Venod Sharma, Cantt’s BJP leader in assembly Anil Vij and Naraingarh Congress MLA Ram Kishan. Ambala MP and union social welfare and justice minister Kumari Selja, too, has reasons to exert.

Also, Yamunanagar and civic body had Congress in majority before it was upgraded to municipal corporation. Besides Congress MP Naveen Jindal, the Yamunanagar MC has also involvement of Bishan Lal Saini (Radaur) and Dilbag Singh (Yamunanagar) of INLD, Akram Khan (Jagadhari) of BSP and Rajpal Bukhdi (Sadhaura) of Congress. RAJESH MOUDGIL

HISAR
Political experts feel that the Congress must have had an edge in Hisar if they contested on the party symbol. Since more than one Congress worker is in the fray from every seat, the votes will get divided. For the INLD, winning on the urban turf has always been a challenge.

This time, the party made an unsuccessful attempt of having 10 new booth workers in every ward. The INLD is likely to get a couple of seats, but not due to the party but individual rapport enjoyed by those contesting polls.