Congress failed to have a majority in the recent Haryana assembly polls to form government in the state since BJP ruling in the state for the past 10 years, won elections with 48 seats, while Congress bagged 35 seats. Information reveals, Congress General Secretary and MP Sirsa Lok Sabha constituency Kumari Selja calls for strategy to revitalise the party holding few people accountable for loss in power in Haryana state and indirectly criticised Bhupinder Hooda’s leadership in Haryana. She said Congress, which secured five out of ten Lok Sabha seats in the last Lok Sabha election in which its vote share had witnessed rise from 28.42 per cent in 2019 to 43.67 per cent this year, everyone was expecting a Congress comeback in Haryana leading to victory in the state assembly.
According to political experts, groupism in senior Congress leaders was the prime reason for Congress defeat in present assembly polls. There was a race among senior party leaders including the former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, his son Depender Hooda, Kumari Selja and Randeep Surjewala for CM face in case Congress gets majority and returns to power. According to senior Congress National leaders, unhappiness of Kumari Selja feeling neglect by the high command severely affected ther ‘Dalit’ vote bank during present election in the state. Selja herself said that she was neglected by the high command at the time of offering seats to the contestants. According to senior Congress National leaders, unhappiness of Kumari Selja feeling neglected by the high command severely affected the ‘Dalit’ vote bank during the present election in the state.
Discontent among the Congress leadership in Haryana became more evident on Tuesday even before the declaration of final results, with Congress leader Kumari Selja launching a veiled attack on Bhupinder Singh Hooda, under whose leadership the party contested the polls and failed to get a majority. While talking to media persons, she asserted that the party’s national leadership needs a strategy to revitalise the party in the state and to identify those accountable for its under performance in the Haryana Assembly elections when all Exit Polls by the media were in favour of Congress to win majority and form a government to regain power in the state after a decade. Pained by Congress workers’ disappointment, Selja said, she is confident the party high command will assess the reasons for the defeat and formulate a plan to help revive the party network in Haryana and also identify those responsible for the poor results in present assembly polls when the entire Exit Poll was in favour of party this time.
Selja said, Congress, which secured five out of ten Lok Sabha seats in the recent past election, and saw its vote share rise from 28.42 per cent in 2019 to 43.67 per cent, was expecting a comeback in Haryana during this time. “However, Congress’s inability to navigate internal party rifts and present a united front hindered its efforts to translate its Lok Sabha poll success into a victory in the present state assembly polls, which was lost,” she said. Allegations were raised against Bhupinder Hooda, former CM and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, claiming that he was attempting to control the state unit of the Congress. Before the polls, referring to him, Selja had stated there are many people who want to go it alone and are determined not to cooperate. The Hooda camp’s push to name Bhupinder Hooda as the party Chief Minister face in case of victory in present assembly polls was also opposed by Selja. “Whenever there is a party government, the Chief Minister leads the election. As per past practice, the party never projects anyone when we are in the opposition,” she said that the Congress was expecting a comeback in Haryana, however, the party’s inability to unite and handle internal rifts among leaders resulted in defeat.
