The upcoming assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra has the Congress is worried for different reasons.
In Haryana, the split between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal worries the Congress. BJP leaders say that the party rank and file simply refused to accept the alliance,while Chautala termed it as 'unilateralism' saying there was no dispute over the sharing of seats.
The worry amongst the Congress leaders is that either the BJP or Chautala can join forces with the Mayawati-Bhajan Lal alliance which has already come into force. In the event that this happens it could be a rude blow for the Congress which has been looking at sailing smoothly into the next term led by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
A senior leader in the Congress admitted that the dynamics of an assembly election are very different and the combined vote bank of the Bahujan Samaj Party, BJP and Bhajan Lal's Haryana Janhit Congress could upset their applecart. In the 2009 elections while the Congress got 41.77 per cent of the votes, the INLD got 15.77, the BSP got 15.75, Bhajan lal's Janhit Congress got 10.01per cent and the BJP got 12.09 per cent of the votes.Senior leaders have already admitted that Mayawati and Bhajan Lal are already a formidable alliance.
In Maharashtra the main problem of the Congress is its alliance partner the Nationalist Congress Party. A senior leader who is in touch with state leaders said that the anti-incumbency against the NCP is much more as they have all the major portfolios and this will hit the alliance in the coming elections.
Sources say that the Congress is weighing the anti-incumbency against the NCP with the gains which an alliance with the NCP can bring on the table and whether it would be politically more suitable for the Congress to go alone thereby dumping and disassociating itself from the anti-incumbency of the NCP. But opposed to this is the split in the secular vote which would take place were the two parties to go their separate ways and this would serve the purpose of giving a new lease of life to the BJP-Shiv Sena combine in the state at a time when the BJP is hammering itself from all directions.
All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijay Singh who has given a report to the Congress president and A K Antony on the status of the 12 seats he was asked to survey refused to reveal details of the report but said that the situation was looking good for the Congress party and there was a feeling of optimism. He said that the party was prepared for a tie-up with the NCP but added that after delimitation, the demographic profile of constituencies had changed.
With the Congress looking for more seats both on the basis of delimitation and their 2009 Lok Sabha performance where they won 18 seats from Maharashtra, Digvijay Singh once again floated the idea of a merger saying it was his personal view that since the issue of Sharad Pawar leaving the congress was no longer valid and that the political DNA, the stock, the ideology of the two parties was the same why should they not get together. He said that this would strengthen the secular front and there was no need for a separate party.
Battling 10 years of anti-incumbency in the state, the Congress leadership is learnt to be clear that Maharashtra should be won at any cost as the party does not want to give a new lease of life to the BJP. Keeping that in mind, all leaders are being consulted and the situation being assessed on the ground to ensure there is no slip up and that the situation is used to the congress advantage.
