While the BJP is upbeat, the Congress’ humiliating defeat in Haryana has provided the INDIA alliance partners with an opportunity to criticise the alleged arrogance of its key leaders who chose to go solo rather than ally with AAP and SP in the state. A report by Mudit Mathur
The Haryana election results have set the stage for intense electoral battles in the forthcoming polls in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Delhi and other states, with each party keenly watching to exploit the momentum and lessons learned from the recent polls. The tactical victory with the hat trick of BJP rule despite weathering anti-incumbency exhibited the extraordinarily fine balance of the caste chemistry of Haryana giving a breather of relief to Modi. The rejuvenated Modi showed early signs of bouncing back in upcoming assembly elections reiterating the success of his policies in governance.
Strategically, the Congress missed the golden opportunity and lost the most prestigious elections in the wake of the alleged oppression of the farmers and wrestlers’ movement under the BJP government. There is no doubt that the Congress suffered a major setback on account of its overconfidence and dependence on the supremacy of one regional leader, which aggravated factional differences among its regional leaders proving fatal for the messaging of its leader, Rahul Gandhi about the waning Modi charisma and ethical legitimacy.
The political importance of Haryana is so high that nobody is talking about BJP’s defeat in Jammu and Kashmir where the INDIA alliance is forming a government. The Congress fell short of the majority mark in Haryana by nine seats, winning 37 seats in the 90-member Assembly. The Congress rebels or independents played a significant role in its defeat at 16 seats. The Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal also made a big dent in the Congress Party, which led to the party losing at least six seats to the BJP.
The humiliating defeat of the Congress Party in Haryana gave an opportunity to INDIA alliance partners to attack the alleged arrogance of its prominent leaders who opted to contest alone without entering into a poll pact with its associates like the Aam Admi Party and Samajwadi Party. The Congress leaders failed to contain dissenting leaders who played spoilsport for its official candidates who were mostly handpicked by former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda by annoying a larger chunk of leaders from the castes other than the Jat community. The BJP tapped into the silent hurt of these communities as it strategized ticket distribution and employed social engineering.
Haryana results have given a shot in the arm to the BJP and its leaders after suffering a humiliating decline in its seats in the parliamentary elections and thereby clipping the wings of PM Narendra Modi whose freedom to implement the party agenda has been restricted due to politically divergent allies like JD(U) and TDP, who largely enjoy support of Muslim communities.
Belying assessments from pollsters and media commentators, the BJP outweighed anti-incumbency. The consecutive third victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party by securing 48 seats in the state marks the first time a party has been voted back to power three times successfully since Haryana was formed in 1966.
The results put the BJP in an advantageous position for the upcoming assembly elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. The Haryana election results may indicate a shift in the political landscape, with the BJP maintaining its strong presence in the state. This could boost the party’s morale and influence voter decisions in upcoming elections.
Maharashtra is the economic capital of the nation with a progressive understanding of political affairs. At the same time, Jharkhand is a backward state with multiple governance problems despite rich natural resources attracting big corporate houses for excavation by displacing tribal people from their land. Rahul Gandhi attracted huge crowds during his “Bharat Jodo Yatra” in both states, promising to protect their rights which helped his party to add more seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
In view of the forthcoming assembly elections, the big challenge before Rahul Gandhi appears to be keeping all the partners of the INDIA alliance together and his regional leaders united under his umbrella.
The INDIA bloc allies have questioned the election strategy of the Congress party after its shocking defeat in the Haryana assembly elections. They said the Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge needs to introspect the strategy of his party before assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Delhi. Seat sharing would be a complex issue among them which they want to settle at the earliest.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut while advising that Congress should learn a lesson from the Haryana polls, said the Congress has lost an easy battle and insisted on declaring the CM face before the polls in Maharashtra. The three parties of the Maha Vikas Aghadi should now jointly declare the face for the post of Chief Minister. Raut said that the Congress thought they would win the Haryana election unilaterally and they didn’t need anyone as he advised that no one in the alliance should think of themselves as big or small brothers.
“The defeat in Haryana is unfortunate. INDIA alliance should have fought as a united front in Haryana. Maybe, that way there would have been a different result. Had Congress formed an alliance with the Samajwadi Party, Aam Aadmi Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP) and contested the election, then the INDIA alliance would have definitely won. Congress’s egotism made them lose the Haryana elections,” Raut remarked.
Another Shiv Sena-UBT leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said the results of the Haryana elections will not have any impact in Maharashtra, where elections are likely to be held next month. She, however, asked the Congress to recalibrate its election strategy.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal took a jibe at the Congress, saying the biggest lesson that can be drawn from the poll debacle is that one shouldn’t be overconfident. His second in command, Manish Sisodia, said the people of Haryana wanted to defeat the BJP in the assembly elections but the Congress failed to win due to problems in their election strategy. AAP also rejected the BJP leader’s assessment that the Haryana results would have an impact on the Delhi polls.
“The BJP won the Haryana elections in 2014 and 2019, but those results didn’t sway Delhi. Delhi votes for the politics of work, not empty promises. When the BJP seemed ‘invincible’, riding on the ‘Modi Magic’ and winning across the country, it was this ‘nutmeg-sized’ party that handed them historic defeats — twice reducing their seats to single digits. The BJP must understand that Delhi’s heart beats only for Arvind Kejriwal,” AAP stated in a press release.
CPI general secretary D Raja also advised the Congress to do serious introspection over the poll results in Haryana and take along all INDIA bloc partners in the upcoming polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.“Congress party will have to do serious introspection. It has to do some self-critical assessment of its strategy and tactics,” he added.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh advised its allies in Maharashtra to observe coalition dharma. “In Maharashtra, I want to remind you that in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress was in the first place and ‘coalition dharma’ is that we discuss issues between ourselves and not through the media,” he added. “We are in alliance in Maharashtra, it is our responsibility to strengthen the alliance. We will not say anything about our allies,” he added.
