Chandigarh, Oct 20 (Inditop.com) With votes polled in assembly elections set to be counted Thursday, the ruling Congress party is supremely confident of retaining power in Haryana. But the divided opposition has not given up.
The Congress feels it will be able to overcome a three-decade old jinx in the state — that no party which has completed a full term has returned to power for another five years.
Congress leaders, including Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, claim the party will manage a better showing than the 67 seats it won in February 2005.
“We will return to power comfortably. There is no doubt about that,” Hooda said triumphantly.
The claim seems far fetched though unless the Congress pulls off a miracle. But most analysts do believe the Congress has the best chance of finishing on top of the Oct 13 electoral battle.
Party insiders say the Congress could win 50-60 seats in the 90-member house.
But that does not stop the main opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) from claiming that the assembly results will be a shocker for the Congress.
“The Congress will be surprised by the results. The INLD will form the next government in Haryana,” former chief minister and INLD president Om Prakash Chautala asserted.
The Hooda government got the previous assembly dissolved in August this year, seven months ahead of schedule, to seek fresh elections. Hooda took power in March 2005.
Congress leaders are hopeful that the lack of unity among opposition parties will be its advantage.
Besides INLD, the other main players in Haryana are the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). All of them contested the elections on their own.
The BJP, BSP and HJC, the last floated by former chief minister Bhajan Lal and his son Kuldeep Bishnoi, expect to be kingmakers in the formation of the next government.
On most assembly seats, there were five-cornered contest this time.
rounak