On October 14, Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) will merge into Congress, the party it originated from. There were early indications — the HVP had supported Kiran Chaudhary, Congress candidate and daughter-in-law of HVP chief Bansi Lal in the Rajya Sabha polls.The merger would be a shot in the arm for the HVP but will set off a struggle in the Congress middle rung which will have to compete with the new claimants from the HVP. Worse, it may create another Jat power centre in the party, which is already facing a tussle between Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Birender Singh. HVP had been pressed to take a decision with the Assembly polls drawing near. Much to the chagrin of the HVP, the BJP — which once ruled the state in alliance with the party — had invited Bansi Lal to merge his HVP with the BJP. However, it put its foot down when it came to having an alliance with the HVP, forcing the HVP to weigh options, which ultimately materialised in the merger.Top HVP leaders favoured a merger with the Congress rather than the BJP as most of them had come to the party from the Congress fold.However, the merger will do nothing to ally Congress fears that the merger would lead to problems at the district level. The HVP has a strong presence in certain districts and would obviously like that its partymen get tickets to these seats.Besides, the merger, brokered to secure a better political future for Surender Singh, son of former CM Bansi Lal, may lead to the emergence of another claimant for the CM’s post. Bhajan Lal, Hooda and Birender Singh are openly in the fray and Bansi Lal, with his experience, is a front runner.
