The results of the recently held civic polls in Haryana provide a clear indication that the Congress was slipping, and unless its Central leadership takes some crucial decisions, the party’s fate may become similar to what it is in Gujarat, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh.
The Congress was expecting to win big time during the Assembly polls in October and after the BJP emerged victorious, there were many who claimed that this was because of unfair practices of the saffron brigade which were aided and abetted by the Election Commission.
Although there are petitions regarding the results which are pending with the EC as well as law courts, yet nothing has been found to establish any wrongdoing so far. Despite reports of infighting within the BJP ranks, the Congress has not been able to take advantage of the situation and continues
In the municipal elections, the grand old party was rudderless with no one to guide it, and ended up in Gurgaon, for instance, getting just a single seat out of the 36 odd seats, with the BJP getting an absolute majority. Simply a disastrous performance from any account.
It is the party showing in smaller elections which ultimately leads to big victories and if the Congress is sinking in the state, it is because its leadership does not realise the consequences of its own indecisions. In fact, the loss of the party during the Assembly elections could also be attributed to the inability of the high command to ensure that dissidents were persuaded to withdraw from the contest in order to allow the official nominees to win. In at least a dozen seats, the votes secured by the rebels were more than the total gap between the BJP and the Congress. The poll management by the observers could certainly have been better and both Rahul and Priyanka should have ensured that dissident activity by senior leaders was checked on time.
One of the principal reasons why the Congress has performed poorly is that the central leadership was running the show in an ad hoc manner, thereby causing huge uncertainty for those who back the party. The high command is yet to name the Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly even though the results were declared more than five months back.
B.K. Hari Prasad was recently appointed as the general secretary in charge of the state but he too seems to be working under some limitations and has not got the directions from the leadership to go about the job of re-organizing the party.
There is a strong lobby within the party which is wanting former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to be sidelined permanently without realizing that there is no substitute for him. Kumari Selja who enjoys the patronage of the Gandhis had openly revolted against Hooda’s leadership during the Assembly polls and instead of berating her, the High command got pictures clicked with her, thereby sending confusing signals down the line. Randeep Surjewala, who is amongst the favourites of the current central leadership wishes to be the leader of the state, but his acceptability is always going to create problems. The general feeling within the party is that if anyone other than the Hoodas get control of the organization, it would strengthen the BJP further, and any decision which keeps the former CM and his family away from responsibility in the state, would be viewed as being taken at the instance of the BJP’s sleeper cells within the Congress.
The delay in declaring the revamped set up in Haryana, is proving to be costly for the Congress and if for some reasons the Hoodas get marginalized, it would lead to the final nail in the party’s coffin. The high command has every right to put anyone it wants to in the position of authority but if this is done without application of mind or anticipating the consequences, the fallout would be huge.
After the Nehru-Gandhis, the Hoodas are amongst the oldest political families in the country. Bhupinder Hooda’s grandfather, Chaudhury Matu Ram was a freedom fighter and a staunch supporter of Arya Samaj as well as a close associate of Lala Lajpat Rai and Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s uncle, Ajit Singh. His father Chaudhury Ranbir Singh was a senior Congress functionary, who has the distinction of being a member of multiple Houses including the Constituent Assembly. His wife’s family has also been with the Congress since the 1920s.
The short point is that it would be in the overall interest of the Congress that it takes an appropriate decision which would include the Hoodas, whom the BJP fears, and not bring in someone whose appointment would prove to be counter-productive.
What the party needs is an experienced person who can match the BJP’s strategy and help the party to survive for the next five years. The BJP is facing many dissensions also, and in the Assembly recently, a member and a minister clashed openly using unparliamentary language against each other. Another minister has been having repeated digs at the Chief Minister and so far, has got away with his indiscretions.
The Congress has a limited choice in Haryana and even if it has to groom new and younger leaders, it cannot afford to sideline someone like Bhupinder Singh Hooda, party’s only mass leader in North India. Yes, other than Hooda, who belongs to the Jat community, the high command needs to involve other communities including Punjabis as well. Between us.