Humility Is True Key To Success: Congress shall mend its ways

The Haryana and Kashmir polls have a clear message for the grand old party. It shall not let its cheer leaders blind its eyes, and it shall not ride roughshod over its allies. Some members of the INDIA bloc have already started feeling that Congress is like a parasite. AAP and TMC and others have now turned averse to an alliance with the grand old party. Even the NCP-led by Sharad Pawar feels Congress could be a liability. India is now in the 77th year of Independence. The voters had taught a lesson to BJP in the Lok Sabha elections by destroying their dream of ‘Ab ki Baar 400 Paar.’ They also taught a lesson to Congress that it should not fly too high. The voters have given the message again. Will the Congress heed it and salvage its lost image and prove a challenger to BJP in Maharashtra, as it did during the General Elections

Why is the Congress party so upset with its defeat in Haryana? Why did it behave in such an immature and anti-constitutional way, rejecting people’s verdict? What right do they have to insult the people’s verdict, saying, “we don’t accept it.”

Why is it so badly shaken? The results may be shocking for the Congress, but their reaction shocked the nation and has led to a situation to think whether there is any reality in the allegations being made by Modi that they are working to divide the Hindus. Modi also called them urban Naxalites.

Why are the INDIA alliance partners angry with Congress? Congress alleged that they lost because of EVMs but when the party was in power till 2014 it was the same EVMs which were having a Midas touch. The hit and run attitude of Congress regarding EVMs failed as they could not prove their charge. In fact, it has become a fashion for every party to blame EVM when they lose elections. The YSRCP which praised EVMs when they got 151seats is today batting for paper ballot.

The Congress party should not only introspect the reasons for their defeat but also change their poll narrative. They should first learn to respect the voters and should understand that they are the wisest of them all. The party should realise that they had so far lost over 80 elections under the stewardship of Rahul Gandhi. The alliance leaders have started feeling that the Congress lost Haryana which was coming on a silver platter because of their “arrogance and wrong narrative.” Congress should stop looking for excuses, such as blaming it on the EVS, and understand that they lost Haryana as they felt that the mere slogan of ‘Kisan, Pahalwan and Jawan’ would get them votes. However, this had a limited impact. The Congress party also depended heavily on the Jat votes and ignored OBCs and Dalits. The Jats of Haryana who live in areas close to Punjab (erstwhile undivided Punjab state) did go with the Congress but not the others who were in other parts of Haryana. It may be noted that those who participated in the farmers agitation, too, were from the areas bordering Punjab, not other Jats. On the other hand, the BJP which had differences with RSS during the 2014 Lok sabha polls this time worked in tandem with the Sangh and reaped the benefit. It is high time they also stopped making comments such as derisively saying it was ‘Nach Gana,’ during the consecration of the idol of Lord Rama in Ayodhya.

INDIA bloc feels that the Congress which had shown a give and take attitude during the 2024 general elections had suddenly changed its attitude. It wanted to be at the helm of affairs and dictate terms to the alliance partners. They also overplayed the caste card and were heavily dependent on the Jats. Add to it there was serious infighting and lack of coordination within the party in Haryana. Some among the alliance partners are now suspecting that Congress is following the IUML, as Rahul Gandhi during his foreign visits had categorically stated that there was nothing wrong with IUML and that they were secular. BJP went a step further and said the Congress is the new IUML in India.

What the Congress should understand is that every state has specific issues. If the Congress continues with its insistence on the Dalit and the Adivasis quotas being extended in beauty pageants as well, and it pitches for caste census and Mohabbat ki Dukan, Congress dukan will continue to suffer losses. The worst part was Congress terming the BJP victory in Haryana the victory of Tantra (manipulation) and not Lok Tantra (Democracy).

First and foremost, the Congress should understand that voters are not slaves. India is now in the 77th year of Independence. The voters had taught a lesson to BJP in the Lok Sabha elections by destroying their dream of ‘Ab ki Baar 400 Paar.’ They also taught a lesson to Congress that it should not fly too high and gave only 99 seats in Lok Sabha and that, too, some were won, thanks to the alliance they had with bloc INDIA.

In fact, there was resistance to admitting Congress into the alliance but later the Congress party tried to dominate others, and this resulted in differences among the partners. In the wake of Haryana shock, AAP and TMC and others have now turned averse to an alliance with the grand old party. Even the NCP-led by Sharad Pawar feels Congress could be a liability. The Samajwadi party in UP is also having second thoughts following Rahul’s statement on IUML.

The grand old party failed to get even one seat in Hindu belt in Jammu region where BJP performed very well and increased its vote share. What is worse is that the party which got only six or seven seats in Jammu is now asking its alliance partner National Conference, which won 42 seats on its own, as to how they can name Omar Abdullah as CM designate without consulting them.

It is time for the cheer leaders of the party, who unfortunately include many senior leaders and octogenarians, to have a thorough introspection and take midway corrective measures so that the alliance can once again challenge the BJP as they did during the general elections.

With Maharashtra Assembly elections slated for next month, if the Congress does not make amends and patch up with its alliance partners, well, the opposition would be giving yet another chance for BJP to claim that they are still the trending party ruling in about 20 states directly or indirectly and have a voter share of 37%.

No wonder then that some members of the INDIA bloc have started feeling that Congress is like a parasite. Instead of getting peeved, the Congress leaders need to put the party back on track. They should also realise that they should stop mocking India from foreign land. They may hate Modi but cannot make a mockery of India while on foreign visit. Both Rahul Gandhi and the Congress should realise that the “Khata Khat, Fata Fat,” slogan did not cut ice with people of Haryana.

The Haryana polls also have another message. It is time for all pollsters and psephologists to take a break and the reporters who claim to be on ground during elections, too, should reorient themselves and go in for a broader unbiased survey and the social media should understand that they cannot unduly influence the voters. While the AP Assembly elections held recently proved that freebies and notes for voting can’t make a party win, Haryana has shown that arrogance is dangerous for any political party.