Maha, Haryana voters to decide Fadnavis & Khattar fate today
Says the people have ‘seen through the BJP'S game’ of diverting attention from real issues
MUMBAI/CHANDIGARH: Polling will be held on Monday to elect Maharashtra and Haryana assemblies with the BJP and its allies seeking to retain power in the two states on the back of the recent Lok Sabha polls victory, while the opposition is hoping to turn the tide by cashing in on any anti-incumbency.
Bypolls will also be held to 51 assembly seats and two Lok Sabha constituencies spread across 18 states.
In Maharashtra, where the ‘Mahayuti’ alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and smaller parties is against the ‘Maha-agadhi’ led by the Congress and the NCP.
The ruling BJP is locked in a contest with the opposition Congress and the fledgeling JJP for the 90 assembly seats in Haryana which has over 1.83 crore voters.
Polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm. Tight security arrangements have been made with deployment of more than three lakh personnel from state police and central forces in Maharashtra, while over 75,000 security personnel have been mobilised in Haryana.
Counting of votes will be on October 24.
The high-voltage electioneering by the BJP saw the participation of a galaxy of leaders led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah and Rajnath
Singh, as it continued to aggressively raise the nationalism plank by focusing on scrapping of Article 370 and targeted the opposition on national security and corruption.
The opposition tried to corner the BJP governments at the Centre and in the states on the handling of the economy with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi blaming the ruling party for the economic slowdown and unemployment and highlighting issues like “failure” of demonetisation and GST rollout.
The BJP, which is seeking a second straight term under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra, is contesting 164 seats, which include candidates of smaller allies contesting on its lotus symbol, while Sena has fielded candidates on 126 seats.
On the other hand, the Congress has fielded 147 candidates and the ally NCP 121.
The opposition campaign was, however, lacked fizz as infighting and desertions plagued both the Congress and the NCP in the runup to the polls.
The campaign in Maharashtra was marked by personal attacks and sharp exchange of barbs between the chief minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who hit the hustings at the age of 79 and addressed several rallies.
In Haryana, the Congress is hoping to make a comeback following a change in guard in the state, while the BJP led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has set a target of winning 75 seats out of 90 in which 1,169 candidates of various political outfits are contesting.
The Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), a breakaway faction of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), is also hoping for an improvement in its prospects following the Lok Sabha debacle.
The BSP, AAP, INLD-SAD combine, Swaraj India and the Loktantra Suraksha Party (LSP) have thrown their hat into the ring.
Among the states ruled by the BJP and its allies, the maximum 11 seats will have bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, followed by six in Gujarat, five in Bihar, four in Assam and two each in Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
The other states where bypolls will be held are Punjab (4 seats), Kerala (5 seats), Sikkim (3 seats), Rajasthan (two seats) and one seat each in Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry, Meghalaya and Telangana.
NEW DELHI: Article 370 is not an issue in Haryana or among its people and can never become one there, Congress' state unit chief Kumari Selja said on Sunday, asserting that the people have "seen through the BJP'S game" of diverting attention from real issues.
A day ahead of voting for the Haryana Assembly polls, Selja exuded confidence that the Congress will form the next government in the state as there has been a "rapid change" on the ground in favour of the party.
"Haryana's people have seen through their (BJP'S) game of diverting attention. They talked about Article 370, National Register of Citizens (NRC). But as of today, the BJP has not been able to change the narrative according to its own will. They tried but there are so many issues in Haryana. We raised those issues and people have responded to that," she said at a press conference
here.
Selja said the BJP knew its weakness in Haryana and from the very first day "tried to divert the attention of the people from real issues".
"Be it the PM (Narendra Modi) or other top BJP leaders or the Haryana CM, they did not talk about even one issue of Haryana because they know that they are on the back foot," she alleged.
"The people of Haryana said that first you should give your report and then ask for vote. They could not give a report and tried to divert attention continuously," she said.
Asked if the Congress has been successful in countering the BJP'S nationalism pitch in the assembly polls campaign and the raising of Article 370, Selja said there is nothing nationalistic about it and it was a "political issue" as far as the BJP is concerned.
"The people of Haryana have made up their mind and are not going to swallow this. 'Kaath ki haandi baar baar nahi chadhti' (people cannot be duped twice), you have done it once.
"People have seen through this game. (Article) 370 is not an issue in Haryana and when we got the feedback from the people from our state, this was certainly not an issue," the Haryana Congress chief said.
The Congress refuses to get diverted by the BJP'S agenda, she said.
"(Article) 370 is not issue in Haryana, among its people, and neither it can become an issue for them. The issues of the people of Haryana that are related with them are their real issues," Selja asserted.
The BJP has been raising the issue of abrogation of Article 370 provisions, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, in the Haryana and Maharashtra assembly polls campaign.
Top BJP leaders, including party chief Amit Shah have raised the issue in their poll speeches and hit out at the opposition over it.
Asked if former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda could be in line for chief ministership, Selja said the Congress has not projected anyone as its CM candidate and a decision will be taken by the high command when the time comes.