NEW DELHI: The BJP has decided to go it alone in the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections, snapping its ties with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) led by former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. In keeping with the decision of the just-concluded Chintan Baithak in Shimla, the party is keen to focus on geographical expansion.
BJP general secretary Vijay Goel said the INLD had failed to recognise the ground reality in Haryana.
The seat-sharing talks floundered, with the BJP insisting on contesting an equal number of Assembly seats with the INLD, but the INLD refused to increase the seat share of the saffron party.
The BJP leaders were unhappy with the alliance and the issue was discussed in various party fora, including the recent Chintan Baithak in Shimla. The party wants to contest on its own, to strengthen its base in Haryana.
In the last Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-INLD alliance drew a blank.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda decided to gamble by recommending dissolution of the Haryana Assembly, paving the way for early polls in the State.
With the Congress sweeping the parliamentary elections, the party wanted to consolidate its gains.
There has been a flip-flop in the ties between the BJP and the INLD in Haryana.
Soon after the general election in 2004, the INLD snapped ties with the BJP.
But ahead of the 2009 election, the alliance was revived with the BJP leaving no stone unturned in its Advani- for-PM campaign.