Congress, yet again, has forgotten how to win polls

Congress proves to be a weak link in I.N.D.I.A. bloc — pulls down the MVA in Maharashtra, rides piggyback on the JMM in Jharkhand

A few weeks ago, after the Haryana Assembly elections in which the Congress snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, a political observer said to this author that the grand old party had forgotten how to fight the polls. 

Today's landslide victory of the ruling Maha Yuti in Maharashtra and a remarkable performance by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in Jharkhand aptly proves his claim.

The Congress has clearly emerged as a weak link in the I.N.D.I.A. bloc. 

In Maharashtra, the Congress contested 101 seats as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and is leading on just 19, visibly a dismal strike rate. As a leading partner, it took nearly three to four months to finalise the seat sharing. 

Many Opposition leaders, including Sharad Pawar, had suggested that Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray should be declared as the chief ministerial face but the Congress rejected the proposal outright. There was a visible sympathy factor in favour of Thackeray as evident from the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections a few months ago, but the Congress insisted that it will not let any other party usurp its political turf. Since his appointment as the Maharashtra Congress chief, Nana Patole had rubbed all the alliance partners the wrong way.

While the Maha Yuti, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), and NCP (Ajit Pawar) projected a united team, the MVA lacked cohesion on the ground. The Congress’ organisational structure too appeared to be non-existent.

The decimation of the Congress in Maharashtra has also dealt a huge blow to the party's chief election strategist, Sunil Kanugolu, who earlier had to bite the dust in Haryana. Telangana seems to be the only feather in his cap so far, though many Congress leaders credit Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for the party's surprising turnaround in the 2023 Assembly elections.

In Jharkhand, the grand old party fought on 30 seats and is leading in 16 piggybacking on the creditable campaign by the JMM and its chief Hemant Soren.

Here too, the lackadaisical campaign by the Congress and its poor election management would have pulled down the ruling alliance had the JMM not taken corrective measures. While Hemant Soren and his wife Kalpana Soren campaigned extensively in all 81 seats, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi canvassed in only those seats where his party candidates were contesting. In fact, the Congress hoardings, banners, and advertisements were missing till three days before the first phase of polling on November 13, and those put up later too were highly unimpressive.

It is well-known in the Jharkhand political circles that Congress general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir left no stone unturned to ensure the collapse of the alliance and pushed Hemant Soren to the wall in terms of seat-sharing.

The timely intervention of Rahul Gandhi, who rushed to Ranchi to meet Hemant Soren, saved the alliance at the last moment. Mir was throughout the campaign missing in action from Jharkhand due to his own election in Jammu and Kashmir.

While the crucial elections were going on in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, Congress leaders were seen making a beeline to Wayanad in Kerala where Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was contesting the by-polls. Right from the beginning, her victory was a foregone conclusion, but the Congress leaders behaved in such a manner as if it was a do or die battle. The entire Congress organisation descended on Wayanad at the cost of elections in other key states.

Even in the bypolls to other seats, the Congress had not much to cheer about. It was struggling to retain its Nanded Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra. Courtesy senior leader Partap Singh Bajwa, the Congress has been able to wrest Barnala, a strong bastion of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in the by-elections in Punjab. AAP has won in the other three seats, including Gidderbaha from where Amrita Warring, the wife of Punjab Congress president Raja Amarinder Singh Warring, was in the fray.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddramaiah maintained his hold on the party and the state as the Congress won all the three by-elections there. Siddaramaiah had been under fire over his alleged involvement in the MUDA land scam, but the bypoll victory could silence his detractors within the party and outside.

The Trinamool Congress retained its supremacy in West Bengal winning all the six seats the by-elections on which were held in the backdrop of the rape and murder of a junior doctor of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in August.

Going by the Congress’ performance, it is unlikely that AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal will have any tie-up with the grand old party in the upcoming Assembly elections in Delhi. All available indications suggest that AAP will go it alone in the polls, scheduled in January-February 2025.

(Aurangzeb Naqshbandi is a senior journalist who has been covering the Congress for 15 years, and is currently associated with Pixstory.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.

Maharashtra Assembly poll 2024 results| Check constituency results here

Jharkhand Assembly poll 2024 results| Check constituency results here

Bypoll 2024 results | Check Karnataka results here

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls took place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP went up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress tried to make their mark. Maha Yuti are currently comfortably poised to win. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faced a challenge after Hemant Soren's arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP, but look set to retain power with its I.N.D.I.A. allies. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

Subscribe and follow DH on Whatsapp, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to never miss out on anything.