1 week Ago
The story so far : Jobs, Agniveers, women and farmers continue to be targets of political parties contesting for the 90-seat Haryana Assembly on October 5, evident from their poll manifestos. Incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Jananayak Janata Party–Azad Samaj Party combine have promised a slew of freebies, schemes to woo the agrarian electorate. The incumbent BJP is seeking a third consecutive term in Haryana after its government was reduced to a minority after the withdrawal of ally JJP and Independent MLAs’ support in May .
In March, the BJP had changed its Chief Minister, replacing Manohar Lal with Nayab Saini – an Other Backward Caste (OBC) leader. Amid grumbling dissent from the JJP and Independents and polls in mind, Mr. Saini’s appointment necessitated a floor test.
This gave the Saini government a six-month immunity from any challenge by which the Assembly was scheduled to expire. Challenging the BJP is its old opponent Congress, which has rebound in the State, winning five of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in June . With its electoral campaign led by veteran Bhupinder Hooda and his son Deepender, the grand old party had come very close to forming the government in 2019 but lost out to the BJP as it hesitated in finalising a deal with JJP, which had emerged as a kingmaker.
Buoyed by its bettered chances since the Lok Sabha polls, Congress has gone all out on freebies and promises of jobs in its manifesto this year. With 17 seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC), the Dalit vote is crucial to all parties. Hence, the two prominent Dalit parties – Chandrashekhar Azad’s ASP and the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have allied with regional strongholds – JJP led by Dushyant Chautala and its parent party Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) respectively.
Both BJP and Congress are wary of this coalitions playing spoilsport with the vote share in crucial seats. Other parties in the poll fray include AAP and Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP). Here’s a look at what these parties’ manifestos offer Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Fresh off a humbled victory in the Lok Sabha elections in June, BJP’s manifesto titled ‘Non-Stop Haryana Ka Sankalp Patra’ has promised women a monthly assistance of ₹2,100, 2 lakh government jobs, 10 industrial towns, a full scholarship for SC and OBC students at government medical and engineering colleges.
It has also promised to continue procuring 24 crops at Minimum Support Price (MSP), cooking gas cylinders to poor families at reduced price of ₹500. BJP president J.P.
Nadda, Union Minister of State for Culture Rao Inderjit Singh and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini release the BJP manifesto for the State Assembly elections in Rohtak on September 19, 2024.| Photo Credit:ANI Focusing on jobs, as unemployment was revealed to be the major grievance of the electorate by the CSDS-Lokniti post-poll survey, BJP chief J.P.
Nadda promised, “Each Agniveer from Haryana will be given a government job”. Slamming the Congress for politicising the scheme, he said that all reports had suggested that India should have a younger army and hence the Agniveer scheme had been launched. He added that to secure Agniveers’ future, both Centre and state governments had ensured that they would get opportunities to join paramilitary organisations and police forces.
Apart from Agniveers, BJP has also promised 5 lakh jobs with monthly stipend under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme. Businesses will be incentivised to provide jobs to 50,000 local youth in each of the 10 industrial towns promised. Separate welfare boards for backward classes, metro network between Faridabad and Gurugram, a safari park in the Aravallis, five lakh houses in urban and rural areas and free dialysis and diagnostic facilities at government hospitals are some of the other promises made by the BJP.
Congress Mimicking its recent promises in various state polls, Congress’ manifesto is heavy on ‘freebies ’. As part of its ‘seven guarantees’, Congress has promised a monthly allowance of ₹2,000 to women between ages 18 and 60, free electricity upto 300 units to all households, a legal guarantee for MSP for crops and a state-wide caste survey. Pension — an issue of contention raised by Congress — features prominently in its manifesto.
Vowing to implement the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for government employees, Congress has also promised a pension of ₹6,000 to all widows, senior citizens and people with disabilities. Other promises include cooking gas cylinders for ₹500 each, free medical treatment up to ₹25 lakh, free electricity up to 300 units, free plots of 100 yards and ‘pucca’ houses, permanent recruitment for two lakh vacant posts in government. Congress’ promised caste survey will also push the creamy layer income among OBCs limit from ₹6 lakh to ₹10 lakh.
Aam Aadmi Party AAP’s campaign for its chief Arvind Kejriwal’s home State was marred by his incarceration in connection to the Delhi liquor policy case. On Mr. Kejriwal’s behalf, his wife Sunita Kejriwal launched the party’s ‘ Kejriwal ki guarantees ’ on July 20, 2024.
These include free electricity for domestic units, free medical treatment, free education to people, ₹1,000 per month to every woman in the State, and employment for every unemployed youth. AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal during a roadshow in support of party candidate Adarsh Pal ahead of Haryana Assembly election in Yamunanagar district on September 20, 2024.| Photo Credit:PTI Fresh from his release from Tihar jail, Mr.
Kejriwal held a roadshow in Jagadhri. Addressing a rally in Yamunanagar, his first public appearance since his resignation as Delhi Chief Minister, he said, “Haryana’s blood runs in my veins. They (BJP) sent me to jail, now the people of Haryana will send them out of Haryana”.
He asserted that no government will be formed with AAP’s support. Mr. Kejriwal is scheduled to address 23 events across 11 districts in the state ahead of polls.
Both BJP and Congress are contesting the polls on their own. AAP, which is part of the Congress-led Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), is contesting solo after talks between the two broke down over seat-sharing. JJP-ASP Eyeing the Jat-Dalit votebase, Mr.
Dushyant Chautala of the JJP and Mr. Azad of the ASP announced an alliance with a 70-20 seat split . Asserting that they were uniting the visions of Chaudhary Devi Lal and Kanshi Ram, the two young leaders — both are 36 — proclaimed that they would take Haryana forward.
Mr. Dushyant Chautala, who had held 11 portfolios in the BJP-JJP government, ruled out any possibility of allying again with the BJP. He said, “Those who don’t stand for farmers, we are not going to stand with them,” referring to the stand-off between farmers and the Centre over the three Farm Laws.
While the combination has not released a manifesto, they have made several promises if voted to power . These include, legal guarantee for MSP, assured minimum wages to farmers, 50% reservation for women in all teaching jobs, hike in monthly honorarium of Anganwadi and ASHA workers to ₹21,000, tax-free two-wheelers for students, labourers, poor and middle-class. BSP-INLD Another Jat-Dalit combination in the poll-fray are of the veteran parties INLD and BSP .
After a meeting between BSP supremo Mayawati and INLD’s Abhay Chautala, the two finalised a seat-split of 37-53, with Mr. Abhay Chautala as the combination’s CM face. The alliance, which had previously tied up in 2018, parted ways mere 10 months later with the BSP blaming the Chautala family for it.
INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala with BSP supremo Mayawati. Photo: X/@AbhaySChautala The coalition has promised to backlog of SC/ST vacancies in government jobs, construct homes for SC/ST communities, provide free education and coaching to these communities in both private and government institutions. If voted to power, the BSP-INLD government will increase old age pension to ₹7,500 per month, provide a free cooking gas cylinder per month to every household, ensure electricity bills of every household does not exceed ₹500 per month.
Common ground Most parties have offered free houses to SC/ST, subsidised gas cylinders, electricity, education, hiked pension to seniors, guaranteed MSP and government jobs. Congress and BJP have both offered monthly cash transfers to women, farmers. The main standout promise by Congress is a caste survey and an assured government job to Agniveers by the BJP.
With 1,031 candidates in the fray for 90 seats, OBC, Dalit and Jat vote share in focus, Haryana will witness a multi-corner fight and complex post-poll alliances in case of a neck-neck result on October 8. Published - September 22, 2024 07:33 am IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Bharatiya Janata Party / Indian National Congress / Haryana Assembly Elections 2024 / Aam Aadmi Party / Haryana Lokhit Party / Bahujan Samaj Party / Azad Samaj Party / dalits / The Hindu Explains.
