While the Congress allies shared the party’s “recipe for disaster” after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clinched a stunning hat-trick win in Haryana, leaders of Rahul Gandhi’s party seem much upset over being put in the spot by their alliance partners. This was evident as Maharashtra Pradesh Congress president Nana Patole, with the tensions now shifting to Maharashtra, condemned UBT Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s remarks, stating that the “Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a lost battle”.
Meanwhile, the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the BJP’s performance will be repeated in Maharashtra, where assembly elections are likely to be held in mid-November.
Coming down heavily on Raut, Patole said, “Being in an alliance, leaders should not target one another. We will talk about this in a (seat-sharing) meeting today. There are different scenarios in Maharashtra and Haryana and we will work out better in Maharashtra. I don’t know the basis of Raut’s statement, but you cannot blame a partner party when you are stitched into an alliance.”
Congress suffered a stunning loss to the BJP in Haryana, while the BJP made a stunning turnaround in the state, ending up with 48 of 90 assembly seats. The Congress ended up with 37 and failed to capitalise on the 10-year-old anti-incumbency against the BJP. This was the BJP’s best-ever haul since the state came into existence in 1966. Independents won 3 seats and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) secured 2 seats, according to Election Commission data issued on Tuesday.
However, Fadnavis, who came under fire for unexpected loss in the Lok Sabha elections, asserted that the BJP’s hat-trick in Haryana shows the people have defeated the Opposition’s narratives on various issues and exposed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s politics of drama. He expressed confidence in the BJP repeating its Haryana performance in Maharashtra, and said, “Those living in a fool’s paradise will now come on the ground”.
Echoing Fadnavis, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that the outcome of the Haryana elections sends a strong message against the “fake narrative” of the Congress, which he said affected the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha elections. He expressed confidence that the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra, consisting of the BJP, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction, will replicate the success in the upcoming state elections.
Bawankule acknowledged that while the BJP lost some seats in the Lok Sabha elections, it was due to opposition-driven narratives. Referring to the Haryana election results, he said, “This was a test for us, and we have cleared it. What happened in Haryana will be repeated in Maharashtra.”
(In the Lok Sabha elections, the Maha Vikas Aghadi – which comprises Congress, Sharad Pawar’s NCP, and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena – shocked the ruling Mahayuti by winning 30 of 48 seats.)
CONGRESS ALLIES TRAIN GUNS ON PARTY
A day after the Congress’s crushing defeat in Haryana polls, allies of Rahul Gandhi’s party advocated it for reasons behind the poor show, fuelling the party’s defeat. Taking a jibe at alliance partner Congress for its poor show in the Haryana assembly elections, Sanjay Raut said that the Congress felt they could win on their own without the support of allies.
“INDI Alliance could not win in Haryana because the Congress felt they would win on their own and they did not need any other partner in power. Congress leader (Bhupinder Singh) Hooda Ji felt we would win. If they (Congress) had shared seats with the Samajwadi Party, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or other smaller parties, the results would have been different. The way the BJP fought the elections is very good. BJP won a lost battle. Everybody believed the Congress was winning but it still lost the battle, and the BJP won because it has a systematic system, management, we need it to give to them for this,” Raut said.
Another Shiv Sena (UBT) MP, Priyanka Chaturvedi, called for introspection from the Congress.
“The INDI Alliance fought very well in the J&K assembly elections and they are all set to form the government. In Haryana, Congress had to suffer defeat. Even after anti-incumbency, the BJP formed the government in Haryana. I congratulate them. Congress should introspect on the reasons for its defeat.”
BIGGER VICTORY IN MAHARASHTRA: PM MODI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the Congress is an irresponsible party and a factory to “spread hatred” which wants to divide Hindus and pit one community against another.
The BJP has won the Haryana assembly elections and it shows the mood of the country, Modi said, adding that “in Maharashtra, we have to get a bigger victory.”
Modi said never before has Maharashtra seen the expeditious development of projects. Under the Congress regime, the same speed and scale were witnessed in terms of corruption.
“The Congress is an irresponsible party and a factory to spread hatred. The Congress is not concerned about development and legacy, we have paid attention to both,” he said.
“Our goal is Viksit Bharat with the development of poor, farmers, youth and women,” he said.
The Congress creates fear among Muslims and converts them into its vote bank, Modi said.
Further targeting the Congress, Modi said the opposition party wants to divide Hindus and pit one community against another.
RAHUL GANDHI ANALYSING HARYANA RESULTS
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi said the party was analysing the “unexpected” results in Haryana and will apprise the Election Commission about complaints received from various constituencies of the state. In his first reaction after the shock defeat in Haryana, the former Congress president also thanked the people of Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir for their support.
“My heartfelt thanks to the people of Jammu and Kashmir – INDIA’s victory in the state is a victory of the Constitution, a victory of democratic self-respect,” he said.
“We are analysing the unexpected results of Haryana. We will inform the Election Commission about the complaints coming from many assembly constituencies,” he said.
“Heartfelt thanks to all the people of Haryana for their support and to our ‘Babbar Sher’ workers for their tireless hard work,” he said in a post in Hindi on X.
“We will continue this fight for rights, for social and economic justice, for truth, and will keep raising your voice,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
EXIT POLLS GONE WRONG
The Haryana exit polls 2024 results had predicted that the Congress was expected to trounce the ruling BJP in Haryana, and was tipped to win close to 60 seats in the 90-seat assembly where the majority mark was 46.
According to C-Voter, the Congress was projected to win 50-58 seats, while the BJP was expected to win 20-28 seats.
Confident over the exit poll results, Congress leader and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had said the people of Haryana have decided to bring the grand old party to power.
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