Cong fights old demon: Infighting

Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 23

The faction-driven politics of the Haryana Congress stands rejected with the announcement of the Lok Sabha election results. Its defeat in all 10 seats in Haryana stands out as a sore thumb for the party, its leadership, and the entire rank and file. And the party has nobody other than itself to blame for it.

There are no excuses for the humiliating wipeout in the state that goes to poll in a few months, while there is only one pointed reason — the chronic infighting that went unaddressed.

The Narendra Modi undercurrent maybe good for whatever it is worth, but the fact still remains that the Congress failed to put up a united front, its leaders thrived in their own factions, nobody saw eye to eye and the party failed to set its own house in order before going to the polls.

The bus yatra through the state with all its top leaders packed in before the announcement of the candidates to give the impression of being together cut no ice with voters.

Most of the candidates were left to campaign on their own since the Congress had decided to field all its heavyweights to stay in the contest. Though campaign committee in charge Bhupinder Singh Hooda campaigned at other seats, he had an election to fight and could not give dedicated time in other segments. The campaign by Congress media in charge Randeep Surjewala was restricted to segments where he was asked to.

The feel of things to come for the Congress began right after polling concluded, with the Hooda’s faction claiming that the non-constitution of the block and district units made the contest tougher. It was a barb aimed at state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar.

The absence of no organisation at the grassroots level made the election a bigger challenge than it already was, leaders of the Hooda factions said. The Tanwar faction, however, countered this narrative by alleging that the caste equation was overlooked in the distribution of tickets and a few communities went unrepresented, hitting out at Hooda for the same without naming him.

The constant tug of war the party finds itself in mostly has cost it dear. Leaders learnt no lessons from the Jind bypoll, where the party was reduced to the third position. Each faction continued to tread its own path, while the party leadership oblivious to this made no attempt to iron out the growing differences as party stalwarts went public with their issues.

The only solace the Hoodas can draw is that Deepender, despite being a three-time MP, almost beat anti-incumbency and lost by a margin of just more than 3,000 votes, giving a tough fight in his bastion.

At a time when all Congress senior leaders had to bite the dust, a complete overhaul is their only option. They also need to work out a “winnable strategy” ahead of the Assembly elections. To sink their differences, put the party before their aspirations and work together is the only panacea that will address the ills that plague the state Congress.

We accept mandate with humility: Kiran  

Shruti Choudhry’s mother and CLP Leader in the Legislative Assembly Kiran Choudhry said they had accepted the people’s mandate with humility. “We did our best for the people of our constituency and will continue to serve them to the best of our ability. We accept the people’s mandate with humility,” she told The Tribune.