BJP-HJC alliance under strain as allegations start flying
Buoyed by its recent success in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP's alliance with the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) led by Kuldeep Bishnoi seems under severe strain, say BJP sources.
Buoyed by its recent success in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP's alliance with the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) led by Kuldeep Bishnoi seems under severe strain, say BJP sources.
While the terms of the alliance were to share the seats as well as the chief ministerial term equally, the change in the political fortunes of both the parties in the Lok Sabha elections seems to have altered the demands of both the parties.
"The HJC failed in the general elections miserably, yet it wants its 45 seats and two-and-a-half years of chief ministership which is not possible now that the BJP has emerged as the single largest party in the party in the country as well as in Haryana so far as Lok Sabha victories go.
Either it will alter its demands or this alliance will perish," said a highly placed functionary of the Haryana BJP.
Meanwhile, the state unit president and four-time MLA Ram Bilas Sharma said, "Personally speaking, I want the alliance to continue, but the current political realities must be considered. For the BJP its alliances have been sacrosanct, but the HJC must act maturely. Times have changed in India: earlier political parties dictated the people, now it's the people who dictate the politics so we will have to take into consideration the people's pulse. The final decision though will that be of the high command."
On the other hand, the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) has taken exception to Kuldeep Bishnoi being called a lame horse. It is maintaining that the BJP is trying to armtwist the party into changing the terms of the alliance that had been finalised by none less than Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari.
HJC general secretary Hemant Batra attacked back, saying the BJP had forged the alliance after due consideration of facts and had said that HJC should content with two seats against the four asked by the party in Lok Sabha elections as its leader Kuldeep Bishnoi had chief ministerial aspirations while the BJP was more concerned with the Centre.
"We have not received any such message from the BJP high command. But, we kept our part of the bargain and contested on only two seats. Unfortunately we lost, but our vote share increased nonetheless. If the BJP thinks it can write off Kuldeep Bishnoi so easily and part ways it will be at their own peril as the state elections are not a referendum on Modi like in Lok Sabha," said Batra.
"Moreover, they have not been fair: they said we should run new inductees in our party by the BJP first and we did. Chandra Mohan could not get a ticket as the BJP objected. Venod Sharma's induction was stalled by the BJP owing to objections by state unit as people were wary of Sharma emerging as a taller Brahmin leader than some in Haryana BJP. But did they run their inductees by us whether it be Indejit Singh or Dharamveer or anyone else?" Batra added.