NEW DELHI: The Congress, which was riding high on its success in Lok Sabha elections, has literally fallen flat after the party’s stunning defeat in Haryana assembly elections. The Haryana results have left the Congress bleeding – with not just the BJP but even the INDIA bloc partners unsparing in their attacks on the grand-old-party.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unleashed a scathing attack on the Congress calling it an “irresponsible party” and a “factory to spread hatred.” He also accused the Congress of dividing Hindu society for its political gains and scaring Muslims into becoming party’s votebank.But it is not PM Modi’s sharp attacks that may rattle the Congress. The party would be more worried about the fallout of this result on its role as the fulcrum of the INDIA bloc.
Unfortunately for the Congress, Haryana elections have reinforced two perceptions that go against the party in INDIA bloc. First, the Congress cannot defeat the BJP alone in direct contests; and second, the Congress does not make efforts to take its allies together in states where it has a strong presence or where it is confident of winning alone.
‘Overconfident and arrogant’
In Haryana, the Congress and AAP held discussions for seat sharing after Rahul Gandhi urged the state unit to explore possibilities of contesting the elections under INDIA banner. However, the talks failed to materialise and the two parties contested as rivals in the state.
The AAP, which failed to open its account in the state, has claimed that the results would have been different had the two parties contested together. However, results show that AAP alliance could have helped Congress gain only four more seats – Assandh, Dabwali, Uchhana Kalan and Rania. In all these four seats, the voted polled by AAP candidates was more than the Congress’s defeat margin. Two of these seats were won by the BJP and the other two by the INLD.
Calling Congress “overconfident and arrogant”, AAP has announced that it will go solo in Delhi assembly polls next year. “In Delhi, AAP will contest alone. We are capable of fighting the overconfident Congress and arrogant BJP alone,” party spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said.
On Tuesday, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal had said the biggest lesson from the recent round of elections was one should not be “overconfident”.
‘SP snubs Congress’
In Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party went a step ahead and unilaterally announced 6 out of the 10 candidates for assembly bypolls due in the state. This despite the fact that the two parties had contested the assembly polls in alliance under the INDIA banner.
The Samajwadi Party also has had a bitter alliance experience with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh when during assembly elections, it was openly snubbed on seat sharing. Kamal Nath who led the Congress campaign in the state refused to acknowledge Akhilesh Yadav’s party as an alliance partner.
‘Congress ignores regional parties when … ‘
The Shiv Sena (UBT) also trained its guns on the Congress and accused it of ignoring other parties that resulted in Haryana poll debacle. Party leader Sanjay Raut said the Congress’ “over confidence” was responsible for its defeat in Haryana, alleging that it relies on allies only in regions where they are weak but ignores them in its stronghold areas.
“Wherever the Congress is weak, it takes help from the regional parties. But where it thinks it is strong, the Congress attaches no importance to the regional parties,” Raut said.
“We could win in Jammu and Kashmir because the INDIA bloc was fighting there under the leadership of Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah. In Haryana, the INDIA bloc did not fight together because the Congress thought they could win on their own. Hooda ji is our friend, he thought he could win on his own,” he said.
Another Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said the Congress needs to introspect over its loss as it was in direct contest with the BJP. “The Congress has to introspect. There was a direct contest with the BJP. Where did they all fall short? I am sure they will analyse that,” she said.
‘This attitude leads to electoral losses ‘
TMC MP Saket Gokhale took potshots at Congress without naming the party and slammed its attitude of not accommodating regional parties in places where they felt they were winning is leading to electoral losses.
“This attitude leads to electoral losses — if we feel we’re winning, we will not accommodate any regional party… But in states where we’re down, regional parties must accommodate us,” the TMC MP said in a post on X.
“Arrogance, entitlement and looking down on regional parties is a recipe for disaster,” he said.
Even National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah had a piece of advice for his ally. “The Congress will have to go deep into it and find the reasons for its defeat,” Abdullah said.
Clearly, the Haryana debacle will reduce Congress’s bargaining power within the INDIA bloc. Elections are due in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Delhi. In all these states, the party is an alliance partner with other INDIA bloc parties.