Why Congress’ Haryana loss will be a disadvantage for it in Maharashtra, Jharkhand
The Congress’ unexpected poll defeat in Haryana will resonate beyond the Hindi belt state. Buoyed by the Lok Sabha results, the Grand Old Party was projecting itself as the ‘leader’ of the INDI alliance. Now, its allies are calling for ‘introspection’
The Congress’ unexpected poll defeat in Haryana will resonate beyond the Hindi belt state. Buoyed by the Lok Sabha results, the Grand Old Party became projecting itself as the ‘leader’ of the INDI alliance. Now, its allies are calling for ‘introspection’ read more
 "Why Congress’ Haryana loss will be a disadvantage for it in Maharashtra, Jharkhand")
Congress' bargaining power with its MVA allies has reduced for Maharashtra polls after the Haryana defeat. File Photo/PTI
The Haryana poll loss has put the Congress in a tricky spot. Its INDIA bloc partners have their knives out, calling for the birthday party to introspect and rethink its election strategy.
In a shock defeat, the Congress, which became predicted by exit polls to win Haryana, managed to secure best 37 of the Ninety Assembly seats with a 39.09 per cent vote share. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the winner with Forty eight seats and 39.ninety four per cent vote share.
The Congress’ lacklustre performance in Jammu and Kashmir rubbed salt into its Haryana wound. The Grand Old Party, which fought the Assembly elections in a tie-up with the National Conference (NC), won best six of the 32 seats it contested. The Congress will come to power within the Union Territory resulting from its ally NC, which bagged forty two of the 51 seats it fielded candidates on.
Let’s take a more in-depth look.
INDIA allies target Congress
The Congress described the Haryana Assembly election results as “surprising, against well known sentiment and cannot be accepted” on Tuesday (October 8).
On Wednesday, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said that the birthday party is analysing the Haryana results and will apprise the Election Commission of its complaints about the counting process.
“We're analysing the unexpected results of Haryana. We can inform the Election Commission about the complaints coming from many Assembly constituencies,” the Congress leader wrote on X.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 9, 2024जम्मू-कश्मीर के लोगों का तहे दिल से शुक्रिया - प्रदेश में INDIA की जीत संविधान की जीत है, लोकतांत्रिक स्वाभिमान की जीत है।
हम हरियाणा के अप्रत्याशित नतीजे का विश्लेषण कर रहे हैं। अनेक विधानसभा क्षेत्रों से आ रही शिकायतों से चुनाव आयोग को अवगत कराएंगे।
सभी हरियाणा वासियों को…
The INDIA grouping has increased pressure on the Congress after the unexpected Haryana debacle. Because the consequences went in favour of the BJP on Tuesday, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi pointed out how the Congress over again lost in an instantaneous fight against the BJP despite anti-incumbency in Haryana.
She said, “The Congress birthday party needs to maintain in mind its strategy too. Because wherever there may o.k. be an instantaneous fight with the BJP, the Congress birthday party gets weakened. Why does it happen? It has to remodel the general alliance.”
Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said that the INDIA bloc performed well within the Lok Sabha elections in states where the Congress allied with regional parties. “That's way the regional parties who're taking the BJP head-on, and defeating it. The Congress needs to realise this, and accommodate its allies better within the arriving elections,” she became quoted as saying by Indian Express.
CPI general secretary D Raja asked the Congress to do “serious introspection”.
Chatting with Indian Express, Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Rai took a potshot at the Congress, saying this is going to stop thinking this is miles the “leader” of the INDIA bloc.
“The Congress didn’t give us any seat within the Haryana election with (Bhupinder Singh) Hooda ji saying that our birthday party doesn’t have a standing within the state… The Congress comes and asks us for seats where they've not got any standing, but don’t would prefer to share seats within the states where they're strong. They realise that an alliance has to run on mutual respect, and that has to be followed within the long time,” he added.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has asked the Congress to learn a lesson from the Haryana poll results and “stay united” with its partners in Maharashtra to “defeat” the BJP.
Responding to the criticism, the Congress has advised its partners in Maharashtra to follow “coalition dharma”. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said allies should “discuss with one another and now now not during the media.”
Not easy times upfront for Congress
The Congress, which nearly doubled its tally to 99 within the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, has tried to portray itself as the leader of the INDIA grouping.
A victory in Haryana would have helped the Congress to similarly cement that notion. It would have been a first-rate boost for the Grand Old Party which has now now not won any state in north India since 2018, except Himachal Pradesh in 2022.
Now now not just Haryana, the Congress’ disappointing performance in J&K has also given a explanation for the birthday party to agonize. Contained in the Jammu region, the Grand Old Party got only 1 seat, failing to mount a challenge to the BJP. As per Indian Express, the Congress has “proved to be the weak link” in its alliance with the NC in J&K.
The loss in Haryana and not more than-par performance in J&K has left the birthday party with less negotiating power within the upcoming Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly elections.
Last month, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said at an India Nowadays’s conclave that his birthday party should name the executive ministerial candidate. “I’ve claimed that the foremost important birthday party should get this privilege, and I suspect the Congress birthday party may be the foremost important birthday party,” he said.
Contained in the Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections, the Congress emerged as the one largest birthday party. Buoyed by the consequences, two senior Congress leaders told Hindustan Times (HT) that the birthday party became eyeing the distribution of seats within the Maharashtra Assembly elections on the foundation of the allies’ success rate within the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress is section of the Maha Vikas Aghadhi (MVA) alliance within the state, which also comprises Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).
As per the report, there may o.k. be a “tussle” between the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) over which birthday party will contest the utmost seats within the Assembly elections. The Grand Old Party has also resisted Sena’s demand to project Thackeray as the MVA’s CM face, reported Times of India (TOI).
Nonetheless it, the previous Maharashtra CM and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader has reiterated he'll toughen any chief ministerial face announced by the alliance to “save” the state. “I normally have said it earlier too and now again I am saying that Congress or NCP (SP) should announce a candidate for the Chief Ministerial post… I am going to toughen any face declared by them because Maharashtra is pricey to me and this is miles within the interest of saving Maharashtra. That's way my get to the bottom of to do anything else to save Maharashtra,” Thackeray reportedly said on Tuesday.
With the Haryana loss, the Congress does now now not appear to have an edge over its MVA allies anymore. It would now has to be more accommodative through the seat-sharing talks.
The Congress has, alternatively, said the Haryana poll result will now now not have a referring to Maharashtra. Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said yesterday that the birthday party cadre within the western state became now now not “demoralised” after the election effect in Haryana. “The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will unitedly defeat the Eknath Shinde-led government and the Congress wasn’t demoralised with the Haryana assembly election trends,” Chennithala, the AICC in-charge of Maharashtra, became quoted as saying by PTI.
In Jharkhand, the Congress is a junior partner of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). The birthday party would “play a secondary role” here, as per The Hindu.
Maharashtra and Jharkhand are expected to head to polls next month.
The election setback also will affect the Congress’ poll prospects in Delhi and Punjab.
Delhi will hold the Assembly election early next year. It remains to be seen whether the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress can come together for the Delhi polls. Currently, the AAP has ruled out the likelihood of forging an alliance with an “overconfident” Congress.
The Congress had snubbed the AAP for a tie-up for Haryana polls. Addressing the birthday party’s municipal councillors in Delhi, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal said, “Allow us to peer what the consequences are in Haryana. The biggest lesson from it really is that one should never be overconfident in elections.”
The previous Delhi CM also said that “no election has to be taken lightly. Each and every election and every seat is hard”.
His cautionary words are seen as a message to the Congress along with his own birthday party.
With inputs from agencies
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