Kuldeep mulls Bihar model, eyes BSP

CHANDIGARH: Taking a leaf out of Bihar's latest political experiment of a "larger alliance", Haryana Janhit Congress supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi, after breaking the three-year-old ties with the BJP, is now mulling to cobble together a "grand coalition" in Haryana in the coming assembly elections.
Bishnoi had announced his party's plan to tie up with former Union minister Venod Sharma, who had recently launched a new outfit, Jan Chetna Party, after dumping Congress.
HJC supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi has not ruled out the possibility of a larger alliance like Bihar, where Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar and Congress joined hands. HJC is now eyeing a tie-up with BSP, which has some clout among the dalit population in the state.
A senior HJC leader told TOI that talks were held with BSP leaders. "Before a formal decision over the alliance with the BJP, discussions on seat-sharing with BSP were not possible. Now, we hope a final outcome will come within next two days," he added.
However, BSP state president Naresh Saran ruled out any possibility of an alliance with HJC at this juncture. "Our leader Mayawati has already made it clear that the party would contest all 90 seats in Haryana," Saran added.
However, senior INLD leader Rampal Majra feels that snapping of ties between HJC and BJP would benefit INLD.
"Now, there would be division among voters of our opponents while we have a united block of voters," Majra explained. In the caste-driven state politics, INLD has been getting the lion's share of Jat votes while BJP and HJC have been positioning itself as non-Jat outfits. Congress has been looking at both the sections for support.
Congress leader Dharambir Goyat said there won't be any impact on the prospects of his party following the divorce between HJC and BJP. "This break-up was expected," he added.
BJP Haryana spokesperson Veer Kumar Yadav termed Bishnoi's decision as unfortunate. Another senior leader Anil Vij said BJP was ready to contest all 90 seats in Haryana.