Arun Srivastava
Constituents of INDIA bloc flexing muscles after Congress’ Haryana defeat and blaming it for the audacity to contest solo, has not come as a surprise. Indian politicians, irrespective of their party affiliations, are known for resorting to this practice to prove their indispensability and reiterate the phrase “I have said so”.
An average voter who had voted against the BJP has the intrinsic right to know from these leaders what actually have they done to give a shape to the alliance and strengthen it at the grassroot level across the country. If Uddhav Thackeray, Akhilesh Yadav and Mamata Banerjee could make efforts to strengthen their support base in their states, then why can not Congress be expected to revive and resurrect it.
It is universally known that Nitish Kumar was the prime motivator for floating the INDIA bloc, but it is an open secret that the alliance leaders prevailed upon the Congress leadership not to entrust him with the responsibility of leading the bloc. Mamata had staked her own claim. The AAP chief Arvind Kejariwal who has always been suspect in the eyes of the alliance members for his docility for Narendra Modi, was yet another claimant.
Sanjay Rout has his right to condemn Congress and pull up Rahul Gandhi in the editorial of his paper Samna for their failure to handle the Haryana election in an efficient manner and not accommodating the claim of AAP. But at the same time, he ought to have sought to know in the very beginning from Kejriwal that why he allowed himself to be used by Modi by putting up candidates in all the 90 seats. It is a known fact AAP has never been a force in Haryana. Prominent rebel Congress leaders who had helped AAP by resources and manpower in Punjab, were of no use in Haryana.
A question is being asked in the social and political circles of Haryana from where Kejriwal got so much of money for its 90 candidates to challenge the Congress. It is worth recalling that Congress had agreed to give seven seats to AAP, but AAP leaders were insistent for more, not less than 10 seats. If Kejriwal and other AAP leaders were sincere in their claim to defeat BJP, they should have accepted the Congress offer. Sad enough Kejriwal’s so called charisma did not help even his one candidate to win. On the contrary, it helped BJP win 17 seats. The margin of defeat for Congress was below one thousand in all these constituencies.
Several opposition leaders accused the Congress of banking on regional parties where it is weak but not forging alliances when they notice they are strong in a state. Will these leaders tell the people which regional party is strong in Haryana? Why the AAP failed to win even one seat? There is little doubt Congress bashing is the strategy of these leaders to gain prominence. The outburst of Rout sends a strong message that INDIA bloc partners in Maharashtra intend the Congress should play second fiddle to them.
Akhilesh, ahead of the Lok Sabha election had resorted to this tactics and tried to bully Congress. Later he somehow relented. An electoral understanding could be arrived. The result is before the people. But Akhilesh announced finalisation of its candidates on six seats, out of ten for which bypolls would be held in UP, even while Congress was in the midst of the political crisis following the debacle in Haryana. Certainly, heaven would not have fallen if he had waited for a couple of days and discussed the issue with Kharge or Rahul. This move of Akhilesh is the part of the same game of coercing Congress, put it in tight situation and give a bad name.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi was absolutely correct in saying that Haryana fight was a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress and that the Congress needs to introspect over its loss. As already mentioned earlier, Rahul has to launch pruning of the unscrupulous elements and arouse the trust level of the Congress cadres and workers at the ground level. He is carrying a baggage of such unwanted leaders on his shoulders. He must dump them. Rahul has to introspect; why a direct contest with the BJP turned out to be a night mare?
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah was right in saying that the Congress will have to introspect deeply to find reasons for its defeat in Haryana.”The Congress will have to go deep into it and find the reasons for its defeat,” Abdullah said. Rahul must take one or two lessons from his grandmother, Indira Gandhi, or even from his mother. Sonia Gandhi did not concede to the blackmailing of some Congress leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad. He ought to realise that a strong Congress can remove BJP and Narendra Modi from power and also win the trust of the poor and Dalits.
There is no denying that Congress organisation in most of the states is in miserable condition. Most of the state leaders function like satraps.. They seldom come to the state offices and interact with the cadres and other state leaders. These leaders do not treat a common congressman with respect. In Bihar, the state Congress chief takes the order from Lalu Yadav. He does not even bother for the instructions from Rahul. He has virtually pledged the party to Lalu. No self respecting congressman prefers to visit Sadaquat Ashram, the state head quarter of Congress.
The regional leaders have been giving sermons to 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. It really sounds good. They should be laying out the strategy for connecting the secular forces and taking them along. Congress defeat in Haryana is also a defeat for secular forces in that state. . In Haryana, the BJP managed to secure a majority of seats with a narrow margin of 0.6 percent vote share over Congress. Its success is marked by micro-caste mobilization and insidious communal propaganda.
Taking lessons from Haryana poll results, the INDIA bloc partners should work for their electoral strategy for the Maharashtra assembly polls. The fault lines must be repaired and all efforts have to be made to ensure that maximum mobilization of anti-NDA forces are made. A victory for INDIA bloc is essential at this stage to take on Prime Minister and the BJP in national politics. (IPA Service)
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