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It was a shock defeat in Haryana, considered a low-hanging fruit by the party which was hoping to cash in on a 10-year anti-incumbency and carry forward the Lok Sabha election gains against the BJP.
The victory of the Congress-National Conference alliance in Jammu and Kashmir saved the day for the party to some extent though the Congress could win only six seats out of over 30 it contested, while NC won 42.
In Haryana, even though the Congress managed over 39 per cent vote share, the difference with BJP being less than one per cent, it failed to oust the BJP which will form government for a record third term in the state.
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As poll result trends settled exposing glaring chinks in Congress armour in Haryana, it was clear that internal feuds, over-confidence of top brass and over-reliance on one community turned the recipe sour and led the party astray.
The Congress, which had put all eggs in one basket — that of Jat stalwart and ex-chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda — ended up alienating other leaders including former union minister and Dalit face of the party Kumari Selja who made her displeasure known and called for serious introspection on Tuesday.
As Hooda and Selja raised parallel claims for the chief minister’s chair ahead of polls, both perhaps forgot that the party was yet to win the state. Adding to it was the confusion created in the minds of the voters by separate public outreaches on the eve of the state election announcement, according to party leaders.
While Hooda and his son Deepender launched “Ghar Ghar Congress” yatra, Selja, Randeep Surjewala and Kiran Choudhary launched their own “Congress Sandesh” yatra.
“The factions were always so in-the-face. The damage was exacerbated when Kumari Selja sat at home deciding to skip the election campaign. She had to be placated but clearly she remained upset and made it known,” a Congress source said.
As many as 72 tickets out of 90 were distributed on Hooda’s advice. Sources say Selja was not even able to secure tickets for candidates in her own home turf of Sirsa.
Besides factionalism, over-confidence also hit the party with leaders exuding an air of victory and taking BJP’s ten-year anti-incumbency for granted.
A plethora of ticket aspirants — over 2,500 — too spoilt the show for the Congress with several rebels in the fray and around 10 of them making the decisive difference.
On the other hand, the BJP was equally troubled by dissidents, but it managed to quell the rebellion much better.
Even in the war of narratives, the Congress’ dependence on the “jawan-kisan-pehalwan” narrative against the BJP failed to translate into votes on the ground, as is evident from the results, with the Congress losing many of the Jat-dominated segments.
While the Congress depended on its support in the Jat community, the BJP went for social engineering to overcome it and the strategy paid off.
The Congress’ guarantees had worked in other states like Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka but Haryana turned out to be different. The party had promised to give jobs to unemployed youths and Agniveers and ensure security for women.
Rahul Gandhi’s last-ditch effort to induct Ashok Tanwar, a chronic turncoat, to give the impression of Dalit solidarity also appears to have backfired with segments seeing it as a bid to cut an already sulking Selja to size.
Gandhi’s pet “save the Constitution” plank also did not take off in Haryana with the BJP repeatedly playing up the Congress leader’s remarks made in the US, where he said India could think about ending reservations when true equality prevails.
The Congress loss in Haryana has also come as a dampener for the party ahead of Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly polls, where the allies are flexing muscles.
It is also a wake up call for the Congress to put its house in order in the two states and in Delhi, where polls are due.
The Congress’ bargaining power has dwindled again, as allies are questioning why the grand old party failed to take advantage of 10 years of BJP’s anti-incumbency and pointing out its failure to go for seat-sharing with INDIA bloc partners.
While Kumari Selja sought introspection and accountability, Shiv Sena (UBT), CPI and Aam Aadmi Party said that the Congress needs learn from the loss and work together with partners in future polls