Election results tell only half the story of HVP-BJP debacle

Of these 72 segments, the Haryana Lok Dal (R) of former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, which won four seats, led in 43, its ally Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which won one seat, led in six, and the Congress, which won three seats, led in 23.

An analysis of the voting pattern shows that the electorate was particularly harsh on theHaryana Vikas Party (HVP), which is led by Chief Minister Bansi Lal. The HVP lost more votes, trailed in more segments and, in fact, was replaced by the Haryana Lok Dal (R) as the favourite of rural Haryanvis.

Although the HVP has 32 MLAs, its candidates polled more votes than their rivals only in eight segments. It lost in the only Vidhan Sabha by-election in Fatehabad to HLD (R). Further, its share of votes dropped from 15.19 per cent to 11.60 per centa fall of 3.59 per cent.

Prominent among the HVP leaders in whose segments opposition candidates won are Home Minister Mani Ram Godara (Bhattu Kalan), Town and Country Planning Minister Seth Shri Kishan Dass (Rohtak), PWD Minister Dharam Vir Yadav (Salhawas), Co-operation Minister Narbir Singh (Sohna), and Technical Education Minister Narain Singh (Pataudi).

Interestingly, five of the eight segments in which the HVP led are in Bhiwani district. Clearly, the influence of Chief Minister Bansi Lal is now confined to his home district. But even here, opposition candidates led in two segments, both of which were won by HVP in 1996.

As compared to HVP, the share of BJP votes fell only by 0.85 per centfrom 19.74 per cent to 18.89 per cent. Further, the party, which has 12 MLAs, led in 10 segmentsa performance much better than that of the HVP. Yet, the BJP paid a price for its alliance with the HVP and lost three seats.

Opposition candidates won in the Vidhan Sabha segments of BJP leaders like Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma (Mahendragarh), Revenue Minister Suraj Pal (Taoru), Food and Supplies Minister Ganeshi Lal (Sirsa), and Industries Minister Shashi Pal Mehta (Karnal).

The 10 Vidhan Sabha segments in which the BJP led are mostly urban areas, close to Delhi, Chandigarh or Punjab. Apparently, the strong pro-BJP sentiment in Delhi, Chandigarh and Punjab influenced the voters in these segments.

The Haryana Lok Dal (R), which had no member in the dissolved Lok Sabha, emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the HVP-BJP alliance’s unpopularity. Its share of vote increased by an impressive 6.89 per cent — from 19.01 per cent to 25.90 per cent — helping it bag four seats. Its ally BSP increased its share of votes from 6.59 per cent to 7.68 per cent and, for the first time, won a seat in Haryana.

Paradoxically, the Congress polled more votes than the HLD (R)26.02 per centyet could add only one seat to its tally of two in the last elections. But the Congress vote was spread all over the state, while the HLD (R) vote was concentrated in the seven constituencies it contested.

Further, the alliance with BSP helped the HLD (R).

The Congress vote increased by 3.38 per cent from 22.64 per cent in 1996. Part of this increase could be attributed to the merger of Congress (T). In fact, if the Congress (T) share, which was 2.25 per cent in 1996, is discounted, the increase in the Congress vote works out to only 1.13 per cent.

Several other parties also contested the elections in Haryana. The vote percentages of sme of these were: SJP (5.33), Shiv Sena (1.93), Janata Dal (0.38), Samajwadi Party (0.21), CPI (0.15), CPM (0.34), Janata Party (0.04), and Lok Shakti (0.04).