Congress committed some BJD blunders in Haryana

Biswaraj Patnaik

Arrogant overconfidence, overdependence on Naveen's demigod image, tickets to wrong guys and mismanagement of media for publicity apart from the last-minute promise of fantastic doles, had caused suspicion among voters resulting in a big fall of the BJD in Odisha, which stunned even the beat pollsters and psephologist groups. Invincible Naveen Patnaik had to bite dust, which the ordinary Odia has not been able to digest to this day. Naveen suffered only because of horrible media fellows guided by headless elements including a filmmaker without grey matter in skull. Nearly similar factors too sealed the fate of Congress in Haryana that was confident of ousting the BJP in 2024. The air had seemed pretty much strong against the decade-old BJP that people had begun to hate intensely. Again, like in Odisha, a last-moment change of public opinion occurred and the mood swung in favour of the BJP.

In Haryana, the BJP won 48 seats Congress committed some BJD blunders in Haryana HITTING THE BULL'S EYE out of 90. The Congress bagged only 37. The Congress, which had rejoiced at its performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections with five seats out of ten, turned insanely confident of wresting the State from the BJP believing the Modi-Shah team had lost steam.

Not surprisingly now, a blame game has started and knives and daggers are being pulled out of sheaths and scabbards in the Congress home itself. The party now has to be back at the drawing board. Some critics say Bhupinder Singh Hooda is to blame squarely. MP Kumari Selja be blamed too as she showed up herself as the Chief Ministerial face. Hooda's detractors keep claiming that he stole a lion's share of the tickets to distribute among unworthy individuals.

Rahul Gandhi, who campaigned extensively across the State in the last week of campaigning, ever imagined his efforts would go waste, particularly when the ant incumbency sentiment was intense. Additionally, farmers' wrath and wrestlers' protests were all so big that people believed that the BJP days were over.

Why the Congress lost:

Overdependence on Jat vote which never happened. Infighting and internal feuds, especially between Dalit leader Selja and Jat leader Hooda. Selja, unhappy about Hooda's candidates, stayed away from the final stages of the campaign. Moreover, she repeatedly staked claim to the CM's chair, exposing the discord in the party. All this provided advantage to the BJP, which accused the Congress of being anti-Dalit. With Saini belonging to the OBC community, the BJP consolidated the non-Jat vote bank in its favour. The election became a Jat versus non-Jat affair. There was a huge sentiment among the non-Jat sections against a Jat becoming the CM, which was more pronounced in the Ahirwal belt.

Recent Lok Sabha performance made Congress biggies overconfident.

The farmers' protest, wrestlers' protests, the Agnipath scheme and the 15% rise in vote share in the Lok Sabha polls, etc., made the Congress' campaign turn casual. The Congress leaders made no efforts to pacify rebels in many seats. Further, the voters rejected the candidates in Sonipat, Mahendragarh and Samalkha for they were facing corruption charges. Sonipat candidate Surender Panwar had to contest from jail.

Accusing Hooda of 'handpicking' 72 Congress' nominees, rivals stole away loyal workers to defeat Hooda's candidates. In three specific lost seats, Hooda's loyalists, as rebels, destroyed prospects of victory. In Ballabgarh, the rebel candidate was a Hooda loyalist. While Congress candidate Parag Sharma got 8,000-plus votes, rebel Sharda Rathore secured over 44,000 votes to come second. In Tigaon, party candidate Rohit Nagar was pushed to the third spot by Congress rebel Lalit Nagar. Same was the case in Bhawan-Khera.

Since the winter of 2018, the Congress has not won a single Assembly election in northern India barring the hill State of Himachal Pradesh in 2022. A victory in Haryana no doubt would have added spring to its step, allowing it to approach the upcoming elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand on a stronger footing.

Since Narendra Modi's ascent in national politics in 2014, India has seen an unquestioned single-party dominance of the BJP. While the ruling party still retains its dominant position at the centre of Indian politics, the Congress hoped a victory in Haryana. But the Congress appears to have snatched only a shameful defeat from the jaws of victory in Haryana.

Organisational mismanagement was at its peak. Hooda handpicked 72 of the party nominees. So, rivals, after complaining to the high command in vain, looked away. Loyal workers and supporters felt betrayed and did not care if loss came their way. In three seats that the party lost, there were rebels who were Hooda's loyalists. In Ballabgarh, the rebel candidate was a Hooda loyalist.

The Congress, along with the Opposition INDIA bloc, was hoping to send out several political messages. It hoped a victory in Haryana would have strengthened the narrative that the BJP was losing its grip in parts of North India, the first glimpse of which was seen in the Lok Sabha elections six months ago when it lost seats in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar while retaining its ground in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Consequently, the BJP's tally came down from a dominant 303 to 240.

The Congress, which had got 28.08% vote share in 2019, managed to garner 39.09% votes. The BJP, which had got 36.49% vote-share and 40 seats in 2019, just scraped through with only 00.94% extra votes in 2024. The partym which was relegated to the third position in the 2014 Assembly polls winning 15 seats with a 20.7% vote share, bounced back in 2019 bagging 31 seats. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, the party further improved its position. Extrapolated to the Assembly seats, that meant the Congress leading in 42 as against the BJP's 46. The hope in the Congress camp was for further improvement.

Thus the BJP managed to bag a default victory like in Odisha.