The Congress and the BJP are unlikely to follow the “sitting-getting” formula in the coming Assembly elections in four states after realising that the incumbency is going against sitting legislators, ministers than the incumbent chief ministers.
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi will be going to the polls in the next coupe of months.
“Incumbency is not working against chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Ashok Gehlot but it will be a factor in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and thus could mar prospects of the BJP and the Congress,” feared poll managers of the two parties.
While the BJP, ruling Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh for last ten years, did not give a space for regional parties, the Congress has been ruling Delhi for last 15 years on its own. But this time, the AAP is emerging as a force and could play the role of “king-makers” if there is a mandate for a hung Assembly.
In Chhattisgarh, the local Congress officials do not want to be a party to shortlisting the candidates and want the high command to take a view on whether or not the party’s sitting MLAs should be renominated.
In Rajasthan, the BJP remains a divided house with a section of the party opposing to the former chief minister Vasundhara Raje camp.
Intense factional fights in the two parties in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh coule bring a surprise in the polls.
If the Congress is lacking killer instinct in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the BJP has been lacking a face in Delhi and the hardliners are creating problems for Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan. In this situation, selection of candidates would be a crucial factor for these two national parties.
Meanwhile, the Congress on Tuesday said it has “not taken a decision” on the issue of banning opinion polls as there are “too contradictory views” on the proposal of the Election Commission (EC) in this regard.
The EC has proposed to ban the publication of opinion polls during elections. Congress spokesperson P.C. Chacko said there are divergent views among political parties on it as the issue stretch from that of freedom of expression to conduct of free and fair elections.
“We have not taken a decision. There are too contradictory views on it. Election Commission’s proposal is more strict and wider. May be a decision has to be taken,” he told reporters.