Congress thought Haryana was a gone game
The Congress, which ran a half-hearted campaign in Haryana, was surprised by the results. Rahul Gandhi had kept believing that non-Jats would continue to determine the course of Haryana politics. Results now show that it were the Jats who dictated the terms and that Sonia Gandhi corrected the mistake her son made by sidelining Hooda. She brought Hooda back and he was the man who gave a tough fight to the BJP. As usual, veteran Congress leaders gave credit to Sonia Gandhi for the good performance in Haryana. “Haryana Congress got a new set of leaders only after Sonia Gandhi became interim president,” a senior party leader told The Sunday Guardian. But Congress’ Haryana story remains one of self-inflicted harm. A senior journalist covering the Congress said that “the party bridged the gaps where it could have built an edifice”.
Sportspersons lose
Two of the three international-level sportspersons fielded by the ruling BJP in Haryana in the Assembly elections had to bite the dust. The only saving grace for the saffron party was former Indian hockey captain Sandeep Singh, who defeated former Speaker H.S. Chatha’s son Mandeep Chatha of the Congress by 5,314 votes from Pehowa, near Kurukshetra. Wrestlers Babita Phogat and Yogeshwar Dutt tasted defeat from Dadri and Baroda Assembly seats, respectively. Incidentally, Dutt had resigned from the post of the Deputy Superintendent of Police to contest the election. The police job was given to him during the regime of Congress CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Ashok Tanwar biggest loser
Ashok Tanwar, former Haryana Congress chief, seems to have emerged as the biggest loser in the Haryana polls scenario. Tanwar may not have contested, but he lost his face. Tanwar, who quit the Congress, had said that “the Congress would win only a few seats”. The results have proved him totally wrong. Tanwar, who quit the party in haste, is now virtually out in the cold.
Tanwar’s flip-flop attitude since he quit the Congress by offering support to the JJP in the morning and extending cooperation to the INLD’s Abhay Chautala in Ellenabad in the evening had sent mixed signals about the direction he would go. As he has now declared that he does not want to join any political party, it remains to be seen how he intends to keep himself relevant on the political scene.
Tik Tok star didn’t click
After losing election from Haryana’s Adampur assembly constituency, BJP’s TikTok star Sonali Phogat was quite upset. She realized that wooing voters is totally a different ball game. Before her defeat, Phogat believed that she was a darling of everyone in the constituency. She thought that the voters were “fida” over her “thumkas” and deadly smiles. But the situation on the “public stage” was totally different. An old man told this newspaper that “ours is an orthodox society—we did not want Phogat type persons to be our representative in the Assembly”. A housewife said, “Such elected representatives are not good for the society, especially for our bahu and betis.” Soon after her defeat, Phogat, vice president of Haryana BJP Mahila Morcha, shared a video on social media. In this, she can be seen in an emotional mood.