The ruling Congress and the main opposition INLD are in the forefront of the current mass contact drives. Their objectives are almost identical while their methodologies somewhat vary. Ostensibly both want to consolidate and broaden their mass bases paying special attention to win back those sections of their vote banks whose support they had lost in the last Assembly elections.

While the ruling Congress leadership is concentrating more on holding chain of public rallies which have drawn impressive crowds, the INLD’s stress seems to be on holding party workers meetings to prepare them to counter political challenges, although it has also organized some well-attended rallies.

The BJP, Haryana’s third mainstream party, continues to be in a crippled state which has affected its capability to compete with the Congress and INLD in organizing mass contact drives. On the other hand, the Bhajan Lal-Kuldip Bishnoi father-son duo has initiated efforts to pull their Haryana Janhit Congress out of hibernation. The first attempt in this direction was made by organizing an impressive state-level rally at Jind. More such rallies may lessen the debilitating effects of the defection to the Congress of five of its six MLAs and the resignations of a large number of party’s district-level leaders. With Bhajan Lal’s health failing and his charisma losing its sheen, the burden of again making the party relevant in Haryana politics has fallen on Kuldeep Bishnoi’s ability to rebuild its organizational structure. The HJC’s prolonged slumber had raised questions about the party’s future.

In the competitive mass contact drives, the Congress, like any other ruling party, is in an advantageous position. Besides its political rallies where it uninhibitedly lashes out at its political opponents, the official functions organized by the government provide the ruling leadership opportunities to reach out to broader sections of people through announcement of sops and freebies. .

No doubt, there has been a marked change in the nature of the sops being announced now by Hooda. Soon after his ascending to power in 2005, he had started announcing mega sops, a practice ruling parties generally resort to only on the eve of elections. Among the mega sops granted in 2005 was the Rs.1,600 crore farmers power dues waiver. Other reliefs of relatively smaller nature also used to be announced by Hooda then.

But in his second term of which he completed first year in October, the sops announced by Hooda have generally been of the local nature designed mainly for the benefit of specific areas.

However, despite the advantages of being in power, the ruling leadership faces challenges both on the party’s organizational and the governance fronts. For instance, Haryana is perhaps the only state which is still awaiting the appointment of a new PCC chief. Besides the competition among the Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s own loyalists, his opponents are also lobbying for their favourites for the party chief’s office. Notwithstanding the factional tug-of-war, one thing seems certain: Hooda will have a decisive say in the appointment of the new PCC Chief.

It is at the governance level where the challenges for Hooda are formidable. For instance, the state’s coffers which overflowed in the past are under strain. The revenue deficit which was projected at about Rs.3,941 crore in this year’s budget has swelled to Rs.6,856 crore. The fiscal deficit too is on the rise –by Rs.2,973 crore- from Rs.8,815 crore in 2010-11 budgetary estimates to Rs.11,788 crore as per latest estimates. Whether the revenue receipts which, no doubt, have shown good increase will be enough to neutralize the large deficits is a big question mark. There may not be any large scale mobilization of additional resources to overcome the financial crunch. But whatever these are they will cumulatively impact the ruling party’s electoral fortunes in 2014.

Another challenge the government faces on the administrative front is the state’s increasingly coming under fire from the High Court and Supreme Court. Among the major issues on which the government has faced the courts ire is its releasing some requisitioned lands which the High Court said was to benefit big builders. Another instance is the Supreme Court’s criticism of the non-appearance of Haryana government’s counsels in various court cases despite the state having an army of senior lawyers.

A worrying issue for the state is the deterioration of law and order. Some of the incidents like burning of Dalits houses by Jats roasting a father and his infirm daughter in Mirchpur and the Jats attacks in Hisar evoked nation-wide condemnation. One of the major causes of the law and order deterioration has been the Home Department’s top bureaucrats failure to rein in the police administration.

No doubt, the development that has taken place in Haryana under Hooda’s stewardship earning the state the title of second highest per capita income state and the country’s one of the major investment destinations has evoked nation-wide acclaim. The latest feather the state has added to its cap is its winning largest number of medals in the Commonwealth and Asian games.

On how does the Hooda-led Congress government meet the above challenges will largely shape the course of Haryana politics during the run up to the Assembly elections which will also influence the outcome of the 2014 elections. (IPA Service)