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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  BJP demands greater share of seats in Maharashtra, Haryana
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BJP demands greater share of seats in Maharashtra, Haryana

Party asserting itself to increase presence in these states after its victory in the Lok Sabha elections,say analysts

BJP chief Amit Shah has already started preparations for assembly elections in five states that are due to go to the polls. Photo: Raveendran/AFPPremium
BJP chief Amit Shah has already started preparations for assembly elections in five states that are due to go to the polls. Photo: Raveendran/AFP

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has become more assertive with partners in Maharashtra and Haryana and is demanding more seats to contest in the upcoming assembly elections in the two states, after winning a majority on its own and leading the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) back to power in the April-May Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP leadership wants the party to contest at least 50% of seats in Maharashtra and two-thirds of those in Haryana, making a tussle likely with the Shiv Sena, its oldest ally, and the Kuldeep Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), the party’s alliance partners in the two states, respectively.

The Shiv Sena and HJC are in no mood to alter their existing seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP. The BJP contests 119 seats in Maharashtra’s 288-member assembly and the Shiv Sena 167. After its performance in the Lok Sabha elections, in which it won 23 seats and the Shiv Sena 18, the BJP now wants more seats to be allocated to its candidates in the state elections as well.

“Going by the performance of the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, there is no doubt BJP should get greater number of seats," said a Maharashtra-based senior BJP leader, who has been part of the seat-sharing talks with the Shiv Sena and spoke on condition of anonymity. “We will also have to decide on the chief ministerial candidate in the state. According to the arrangement, the party which wins more seats in the assembly elections has the right to choose its chief ministerial candidate."

Even before a decision is reached on seat sharing, central BJP leaders have started conducting an internal survey to find out what chances the party has of repeating its Lok Sabha election performance in the two states, where assembly elections are due to take place later this year.

Senior BJP leaders have asked the state units to survey all assembly constituencies in Maharashtra and Haryana to assess its chances of winning the seats.

“We have sought ground reports to find out the number of candidates BJP should field in Maharashtra and Haryana and the constituencies where there is greater chance for a BJP candidate to win in the assembly elections," said a second senior BJP leader, who is also part of the exercise.

Subhash Desai, leader of the Shiv Sena in the Maharashtra assembly, declined to comment on seat-sharing arrangements.

“The discussion about seat-sharing difficulties between the two parties is a media creation. We have been in alliance for the last 25 years; we will sit across the table and decide," Desai said.

Newly appointed BJP chief Amit Shah has already started preparations for assembly elections in all five states (Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and Delhi being the other three) that are due to go to the polls, and has started reviewing the organizational structure in these states. Shah and BJP state general secretaries have held talks with senior party leaders in Maharashtra and Haryana to decide on the party’s poll strategy.

BJP leaders argue that since the party won seven of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, the party should get to contest a larger number of seats in the 90-member assembly. Senior leaders of the BJP also want the option of choosing the chief ministerial candidate who will lead the campaign. Both BJP and HJC contested all 90 seats and there was no seat-sharing arrangement in 2009 assembly elections.

“The ground situation is such that BJP and HJC cannot contest on 45 seats each because it will not be correct representation of the mood of the people. Kuldeep Bishnoi, who is the leader of HJC, also lost the election," a BJP leader involved in the discussions with the HJC said.

Both BJP and HJC contested all 90 seats and there was no arrangement in the 2009 assembly elections.

“HJC has started preparations for assembly elections. We are preparing for all the 90 seats and we are ready to contest all the seats," said Rakesh Kamboj, general secretary of HJC, adding that it is difficult to say at this stage how many seats each may end up contesting.

The growing tussle between BJP and HJC emerged after the state unit of the BJP complained Bishnoi was getting too involved in non-Jat politics, which would hurt both the image and prospects of the BJP in the assembly elections.

“There are 54 assembly seats which are dominated by Jats. A party cannot win elections in Haryana if it doesn’t have the support of Jats in the state. BJP leaders had told Bishnoi in Lok Sabha elections that he will lose the elections if he doesn’t get support of Jats, and that is exactly what happened," said the BJP leader.

Political analysts following the BJP’s plan in the states believe it is asserting itself as it wants to increase its presence in all the states and is hoping that the momentum that started during Lok Sabha elections is in its favour.

“The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not done anything wrong and is taking small and cautious steps. Since the momentum was in favour of Prime Minister and his party, national leaders and state units want to increase its presence in all states," said A.K. Verma, a Kanpur-based political analyst. “Since Modi was the face of Lok Sabha polls, BJP leaders are asserting themselves on alliance partners who, too, are dependent on the ruling BJP."

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Published: 23 Jul 2014, 12:50 AM IST
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