NEW DELHI: The Congress has failed yet again in a direct electoral contest with the BJP – this time in Haryana. The grand-old-party which was confident, rather overconfident, of sweeping the Haryana assembly elections riding on anti-incumbency against 10 years of BJP rule, could manage to win only 37 seats. The ruling BJP, on the other hand, scripted history by scoring a record hat-trick in the state.Led by chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, the BJP has registered its best-ever performance in the state winning 48 seats, one more than its tally in 2014.
So, what went wrong for the Congress?
There could be many factors that led to party’s dismal show. However, one of the biggest reasons was perhaps the factionalism in the state unit. The Congress leadership allowed former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to take complete control of election strategy and campaign. In the process, it ignored the claims of other senior leaders of the state – particularly Kumari Selja, who is a prominent dalit face of the Congress. Selja was clearly unhappy with the dominance of Hooda in ticket distribution and stayed away from party’s campaign for most part of the elections. The BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were quick to cite “sulking Selja” to accuse the Congress of disrespecting dalits in the party. At one point there were even reports of Selja dumping the Congress to join the BJP. However, Selja put these rumours to rest and asserted her loyalty to the grand-old-party after a meeting with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
But while Selja announced to stay with the party, her presence in the campaign lacked energy and was limited to photo-ops. The Congress high command did little to bridge this gap between the two top leaders. Little wonder, even before the final results were announced, knives were out in the Congress. Selja called for introspection and in a strong message said “it will not be business as usual after the disappointing loss.”
“The Haryana poll results are disappointing and I am pained at the disappointment of the Congress workers in the state who have worked very hard and were looking forward to forming their government after 10 years. It will not be business as usual in Haryana and I am sure the Congress high command would identify those who negated the efforts to bring the party to power after 10 years,” Selja said in her first reaction.
In a clear reference to Hooda’s dominance, Selja also referred to factors affecting the organisation like taking everyone along and ensuring coordination among all the leaders in the state.
This is not the first time that the Congress leadership has allowed state leaders to take complete control during assembly elections and suffer in the process. In Madhya Pradesh, Chhattigarh and Rajasthan – the three states which the Congress lost to BJP last year, the Congress leadership relied heavily on state leaders. In Madhya Pradesh, it was Kamal Nath who called the shots. He was the one who openly spurned alliance request of Samajwadi Party, leading to bitterness between the two parties. Fortunately for Congress, Akhilesh Yadav was not vindictive when it came to UP assembly elections and the two parties could manage to forge alliance for Lok Sabha polls and make impressive gains.
In Rajasthan, it was Ashok Gehlot who dominated all party decisions from deciding tickets to planning strategy for the polls, much to the disappointment of Sachin Pilot. Sachin, who had revolted against Gehlot, stayed with the Congress after the intervention of the high command but could never get a complete say in party affairs in the state.
Similarly, in Chhattisgarh it was Bhupesh Baghel who was at the centre of Congress’s campaign. The Congress high command did try to address factionalism in state unit by making his rival TS Singh Deo deputy CM. But it was Baghel who dominated the Congress campaign in the state.
The Congress would do good to learn its lessons from the Haryana verdict especially when it comes to assembly elections. Having strong state leadership is definitely an asset for parties, as Nayab Singh Saini was for the BJP in Haryana. But the BJP did a timely course correction and did not hesitate to remove the experienced Manohar Lal Khattar and bring in Saini to lead the party into elections.
The Congress perhaps needs to take a leaf out of the BJP book and learn to bet on the winning horses. It could have at least prevailed upon Hooda to ensure more say for Selja in Haryana so that both leaders and their supporters could have worked together for the party’s return to power in the state after 10 years.