Why is the Haryana Assembly outcome having such a near-meltdown effect on the grand old party? After all, the Congress has lost most states except for Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana, and has only managed to play a minor partner in Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand since the 2019 parliamentary polls.
Yet, the Haryana defeat is a body blow to the Congress for a range of reasons, pushing them back to their pre-4th June 2024 position. The debacle has led to a crisis of confidence, just when Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and various other leaders had started to believe that the worst was over for them. In fact, except for Kiran Choudhury, no leader of consequence had quit the Congress between 4th June 2024 and 8th October 2024—a record of stability and tranquillity of sorts when we consider the periodic defection of over 150 party leaders since 2014, bleeding the Congress dry.
In more immediate terms, Haryana’s poor show has raised a question mark over the viability of the Opposition alliance story. Both Maharashtra and Jharkhand will serve as litmus tests for the Congress, as allies from across the country have taunted them over excessive confidence, one-upmanship, and poor leadership. The Congress’s meagre track record of defeating the BJP in direct contests has virtually foreclosed any prospects of a Congress narrative outshining the Opposition alliance. In the days and months to come, the Congress will hope and pray for allies Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, Hemant Soren, Arvind Kejriwal, and Tejashwi Yadav to accommodate them in the forthcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Delhi, and Bihar.
It is an open secret that Rahul Gandhi wanted the Congress to form an alliance with the AAP in Haryana. The AAP had requested 10 seats, while the Congress central leadership was willing to meet them halfway. However, the alliance could not materialise. It is reported that the AAP was staking a claim for a seat close to Delhi. A senior Congress leader, however, wanted a particular candidate to contest from that constituency. To ensure that this candidate received the ticket with the Congress symbol, he reportedly compromised on the alliance with the AAP.
The chosen candidate finished fourth, while another aspiring Congress candidate, who contested as an independent after being denied a ticket by the Congress party, came in second. A BJP candidate ultimately won that seat. The official Congress candidate could not even secure 8,674 votes in what was considered a ‘Congress tsunami’ in Haryana. The individual who conducted an in-house survey for candidate selection and this senior Congress politician are reportedly close to each other.
Reports of this sort of quid pro quo are proving to be the biggest nightmare for Rahul. Social media is filled with stories, innuendos, gossip, and rumours about how a female nominee was prioritised in the in-house survey and how an AICC functionary actively prevented the AAP from staking a claim to that particular seat. Rahul and the Congress cannot adopt an ostrich-like approach on this issue, pretending as if nothing has happened. If the charges are indeed substantive, taking exemplary action would go a long way in enhancing Rahul’s credibility.
In fact, this issue is also challenging for AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, as both have been strong advocates for probity in public life. If the accused is to be given a clean chit, the timing of the probe and fact-finding must be swift and clinical. It is worth noting that the Congress has a rich tradition of sidelining concerned individuals facing investigation. However, the Congress’s central disciplinary committee seems to be absent when it should be actively involved.
The author is a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. A well-known political analyst, he has written several books, including ‘24 Akbar Road’ and ‘Sonia: A Biography’. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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