Hoodaway or Highway, 'sulking' Selja: What led to Congress's stunning defeat in Haryana | India News

Rahul Gandhi with Bhupinder Hooda and Kumari Selja on stage during an election rally in Haryana

NEW DELHI: The Congress has once again failed in a direct election campaign with the BJP – this time in Haryana. The venerable party, which was confident and rather overconfident of winning the Haryana Assembly elections by opposing incumbency against 10 years of BJP rule, could win only 37 seats. The ruling BJP, on the other hand, created history by scoring a record hat-trick in the state. Led by the Prime Minister Nayab Singh SainiIn 2014, the BJP achieved its best ever result in the state with 48 seats, one seat more than in 2014.
So what went wrong for Congress?
There could be many factors that led to the party's dismal performance. However, one of the main reasons may have been factionalism in the state unit. The Congress leadership allowed former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to take complete control of the electoral strategy and campaign. In particular, it ignored the claims of other high-ranking heads of state Kumari Seljawho is a prominent Dalit face of the Congress. Selja was clearly unhappy with Hooda's dominance in ticket distribution and stayed away from the party's campaign for most of the elections. BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were quick to quote the “sulking Selja” to accuse the Congress of disrespecting Dalits in the party. At one point there were even reports of Selja leaving the Congress and joining the BJP. However, Selja cleared these rumors and reiterated her loyalty to the big party after meeting Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.
But while Selja announced that she would remain in the party, her presence in the election campaign lacked energy and was limited to photo ops. The Congress high command did little to bridge this gap between the two leaders. No wonder that knives were out in Congress even before the final results were announced. Selja called for introspection and said in a strong message: “After the disappointing defeat, things will not go on as before.”
“The Haryana poll results are disappointing and I am pained by the disappointment of the Congressmen 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 so do I.” “I am sure the Congress high command will identify those who have negated the efforts to bring the party to power after 10 years,” Selja said in her first reaction.
In a clear indication of Hooda's dominance, Selja also pointed to factors affecting the organization such as bringing everyone along and ensuring coordination between all heads of state.
This is not the first time that the Congress leadership has allowed state leaders to take complete control of parliamentary elections and suffer in the process. In Madhya Pradesh, Chhattigarh and Rajasthan – the three states that the Congress lost to the 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 rejected the Samajwadi Party's alliance proposal, which led to bitterness between the two parties. Fortunately for the Congress, Akhilesh Yadav was not vengeful in the UP assembly elections and the two parties were able to forge an alliance in the Lok Sabha polls and make impressive gains.
In Rajasthan, it was Ashok Gehlot who dominated all party decisions, from deciding on the electoral tickets to planning the strategy for the elections, much to the disappointment of Sachin Pilot. Sachin, who had rebelled against Gehlot, remained in the Congress after the high command's intervention but was never able to get a full say in the state's party affairs.
In Chhattisgarh too, Bhupesh Baghel was at the center of the Congress's campaign. The Congress high command tried to counter factionalism in the state units by appointing his rival TS Singh Deo as deputy general secretary. But it was Baghel who dominated the congressional race in the state.
The Congress would do well to learn lessons from the Haryana verdict, especially when it comes to assembly elections. Strong state leadership is definitely beneficial for parties, like Nayab Singh Saini was for the BJP in Haryana. But the BJP made a timely course correction and did not hesitate to remove the experienced Manohar Lal Khattar and bring in Saini to lead the party into the polls.
The Congress may need to take a cue from the BJP and learn to back the winning horses. At the very least, Hooda could have prevailed on giving Selja more of a say in Haryana so that both leaders and their supporters would have worked together towards the party's return to power in the state after a decade.