In the lead-up to the Haryana Assembly elections, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala has asserted that the emergence of parties like the INLD-BSP and JJP-Azad Samaj Party may not significantly affect the grand old party's prospects. He claims that voters are primarily focused on ousting the BJP, which they view as failing on multiple fronts.
Surjewala emphasised that the people of Haryana have decisively made up their minds to support Congress, suggesting that the presence of regional players in the election will have a limited impact. "People are pretty decisive, they have made up their mind to bring the Congress, so I don't think other things matter much," the Congress Rajya Sabha MP said while speaking to PTI. "First time, I am seeing that even issues are also becoming blurred. People just want to oust the BJP."
The Congress party is contesting 89 of the 90 seats in the state, with Surjewala expressing confidence that they will either match or surpass their 2005 performance, when they secured 67 seats. He remarked, “This election is now for the Congress to take.”
The elections for the 90 Assembly seats are set for October 5, with results expected on October 8. Randeep Surjewala, a former Haryana minister and current Rajya Sabha MP, is campaigning vigorously in the Kaithal constituency, where his son, Aditya Surjewala, is also contesting.
Despite the competitive landscape, Surjewala maintains that the Congress party remains poised to capitalise on voter discontent with the BJP, a sentiment he believes will overshadow the influence of smaller parties.
Randeep Surjewala's son Aditya Surjewala is contesting his first election from Kaithal, a seat represented in the outgoing Assembly by BJP's Leela Ram, who is seeking to get re-elected. Aditya, the grandson of veteran Congress leader, late Shamsher Singh Surjewala, is a commerce graduate from the University of British Columbia, and the third-generation politician in the family.
(With inputs from PTI)