A year after it beat anti-incumbency to retain power in Haryana, the BJP is already looking to strengthen its position in the state and has decided to assign each of its MLAs additional responsibility for one of the 42 constituencies the party lost in the 2024 Assembly elections.
“The additional constituency will be out of the district of the current BJP MLAs. The allotment of the additional constituencies is likely to take place in the meeting of the BJP Legislature Party scheduled on Tuesday,” state BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli told The Indian Express on Monday.
With a 39.9% vote share, the BJP bagged 48 of the 90 Assembly seats in last year’s elections in what was its highest-ever tally. The Congress won 37 seats with a 39.1% vote share. “The sitting MLAs, including ministers, will be allotted an additional constituency with a mandate to work on the grassroots, coordinate with the party workers there, and resolve issues, if any,” said a BJP leader.
The party believes elected MLAs and ministers carry significant influence, even in constituencies not their own, and have the mandate to execute development projects, implement government schemes, and assist constituents in personal matters.
Some of those who lost in 2024 said they should also be included in the outreach. “The party candidates, even if they lost the election, have more knowledge about the loyal party cadre in the constituency concerned. Moreover, an MLA will always prioritise their original constituency where they need to win again. If a defeated candidate gets full backing of the party and the government, then he or she can make wonders because of the sympathy factor,” said one such leader.
However, the party’s critics are sceptical of the plan, pointing out that a similar experiment was undertaken when the party first came to power in the state in 2014, winning 47 seats with a 33.2% vote share. “Such previous experiments of the BJP did not yield any results in Haryana,” said Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan. In the 2019 elections, the BJP fell short of a majority, winning 40 seats with a 36.49% vote share, whereas the Congress won 31 seats with a 28.08% vote share.
