The shrinking presence of smaller parties in Haryana Assembly polls
The trend of smaller parties witnessing a decline in their vote shares has been sharper in the Lok Sabha polls, but it is noticeable in the Assembly polls too
 "The shrinking presence of smaller parties in Haryana Assembly polls")
Since 2014, Haryana’s electoral politics has seen smaller parties cede their vote shares to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, a trend that these political parties would hope to buck in this Assembly polls.
Voting will take place on Saturday for the 90 seats, with the Congress flagging unemployment and farmers’ agitation as key issues and hoping to consolidate its support base among Jats and Scheduled Castes (SCs). In the run-up to the elections, the ruling
BJP filled government vacancies, sought to retain its support among the state’s Other Backward Classes (OBCs), and announced a slew of welfare measures.
The trend of smaller parties witnessing a decline in their vote shares has been sharper in the Lok Sabha polls, but it is noticeable in the Assembly polls too. In the 2014 Assembly polls, the BJP and the Congress cumulatively secured nearly 54 per cent of the votes polled, which increased to almost 65 per cent in the 2019 state polls.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the smaller parties were decimated. The BJP and the Congress (along with its ally Aam Aadmi Party) cornered almost 94 per cent of the votes polled. Of the smaller parties, the Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) could manage a meagre 0.87 per cent vote share. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) secured 1.74 per cent and 1.28 per cent vote shares, respectively.
In the 2019 Assembly polls, the JJP had performed creditably, winning 10 seats with a respectable vote share of 14.84 per cent. However, in the run-up to the 2024 Assembly polls, seven of the JJP’s 10 legislators quit to join either the BJP or the Congress.
For the 2024 Assembly polls, the JJP has an alliance with Chandrashekhar Azad-led Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram). The INLD has an alliance with the BSP, which has secured 4-5 per cent vote share in the LS and Assembly polls in the state over the years, but fared poorly in the 2024 LS polls. The two blocs hope that their “Jat-Scheduled Castes” alliance will find resonance. The AAP has fielded candidates on 89 seats after it failed to work out an alliance with the Congress.