Ganesh Kendale
NEW DELHI: Following the party’s unexpected loss in the Haryana elections, Congress’s INDIA bloc partner in Maharashtra targeted it, suggesting a re-evaluation of election strategy. Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece, Saamana, in its editorial, targeted Congress on Wednesday. Coming down heavily on Bhupinder Hooda and Congress leadership, the Saamana editorial said that the reason for the party’s defeat in Haryana was overconfidence.
“The results of the Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections are surprising for both the BJP and Congress. In Haryana, the Congress’s defeat is attributed to over confidence. No one was firmly saying that the BJP would return to power in Haryana. Overall, the atmosphere suggested that Congress would win decisively; however, the art of how to turn a victory into a defeat can be learned from Congress.”
Saamana said that there was an anti-BJP atmosphere in Haryana. “The situation was such that BJP ministers and candidates were not being allowed to enter the villages of Haryana, yet the results in Haryana went against the Congress. Despite the favorable situation in Haryana, the Congress could not capitalize on it. This happens everytime with the Congress,” the editorial further said.
The editorial also attributed the rift between Bhupinder Hooda and Kumari Shelja as a reason for Congress’s dismal performance, saying, “Hooda and his people publicly humiliated Shelja and the Congress high command in Delhi couldn’t stop it. BJP was able to win Haryana because Congress’s organisation was weak”.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut also targeted the grand-old-party, saying, “INDIA alliance could not win in Haryana because the Congress felt they would win on their own and they did not need any other partner in power. Congress leader Hooda Ji felt we would win. If they (Congress) had shared seats with the Samajwadi Party, AAP, or other smaller parties, the results would have been different.”
“If Congress wants to go solo all over the country, then it should announce that so everyone else would be free to take their own decision in their respective states,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader added.
Raut also praised the BJP for its performance in Haryana. “I believe the election that the BJP has fought is very good. The BJP won a lost battle,” Raut said.
Meanwhile, other INDIA bloc partners, including AAP and CPI, also questioned the Congress party’s approach in the assembly elections. Leaders from the AAP, who had hoped to form an alliance with Congress in Haryana, said that the most significant takeaway from the recent elections was to avoid being “overconfident”.
“The biggest lesson of this is that one should never be overconfident in the elections,” said former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
“No election should be taken lightly. Each election and each seat is tough,” he further said while addressing a gathering of the AAP municipal councillors at an event on Tuesday.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) also raised concerns about the Congress party’s election strategy in Haryana and said the Congress’s decision not to go for seat sharing worked against it.
D Raja, the general secretary of the CPI, said, “Congress party will have to do serious introspection. It has to do some self-critical assessment of its own strategy and tactics.”.
“INDIA bloc parties should work with mutual trust in each other, and mutual accommodation in time of seat sharing. This did not happen in Haryana,” D Raja added.
