The Haryana Assembly elections 2024 will be held in a single phase on October 1, 2024, and the counting of votes will be held on October 4, together with Jammu and Kashmir.
While there were a lot of speculations on elections in J&K, which will go to polls after 10 years and for the first time as a union territory, the political strategising in Haryana did not take a break and the agrarian state has been brimming with high-stakes manoeuvring effectively since the results of the Lok Sabha elections came out in June.
The political parties in Haryana had begun preparations for the polls way before the dates were announced.
Haryana, with 90 assembly segments, is known for its dynamic political environment and has been a stronghold for several major parties over the years. The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in power since 2014. It is now being led by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini who took over in March 2024, just a couple of months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP, after recording an average performance in the Lok Sabha elections, is now banking on welfare schemes such as Mukhya Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana, Mukhyamantri Kisan Evam Khetihar Mazdoor Jeevan Suraksha Yojana, Happy Cards for free bus travel etc... to woo the voters. The CM went into an overdrive last month to implement various social welfare schemes reiterating the party’s policy “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”.
It is noteworthy that the saffron party could only secure five seats, with the Congress winning the remaining five in the general elections. The BJP’s vote share also decreased to 46.11 per cent from 58.21 per cent in 2019, whereas the Congress’s share went up to 43.67 per cent from 28.51 per cent in 2024. Despite the loss, the BJP has decided to go solo in the elections under Saini’s leadership.
The main opposition parties in Haryana include the Indian National Congress (INC), led by Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which has traditionally been influential in the state, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), a breakaway faction of INLD and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The Congress, well established in the Jat and Dalit belts across Haryana, is considered to be the main opposition party. The grand old party kicked off its campaign to reach out to the people and build on the momentum gained in the parliamentary elections. Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son, Deepender Singh Hooda launched the party’s campaign ‘Haryana Mange Hisab’ in July from Karnal, BJP’s stronghold and the Lok Sabha seat of former BJP CM, Manohar Lal Khattar, now a union minister.
The founder of the JJP, a breakaway faction of the INLD, Dushyant Chautala who was part of the BJP government in the state till March 2024, has now ruled out the possibility of allying with the BJP for the assembly polls. In fact, Chautala recently asked the Congress to take the lead in fielding a common candidate for the Rajya Sabha election in Haryana to which the JJP will extend support.
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The opposition parties are planning to corner the incumbent BJP over issues such as a rise in crime, unemployment and farmers’ distress among others.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which rose to power in neighbouring Punjab in 2022, has also decided to field candidates on all 90 seats in the agrarian state. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said that the party will contest “strongly” under the slogan ‘Badlenge Haryana ka Haal, Ab Layenge Kejriwal’. AAP Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, Sandeep Pathak had said recently that 45 public meetings have already been held in Haryana and as many will be conducted in days to come.
“This time meetings will be bigger than before. We have already held a small public meeting in every village of Haryana once. The next phase of these meetings will start soon. Manish Sisodia will also go to Haryana to campaign. We hope that the way the circumstances are developing, CM Arvind Kejriwal will also be out of jail soon. This will give more strength to the party and there will be vigorous election campaigns,” Pathak had said.
As political parties in Haryana finalise their strategies, the focus will remain on the impact of the Agniveer scheme and farmers' ire against the ruling BJP. With the stakes high, these elections are likely to reshape Haryana’s political landscape.