Congress Kneeling Before Regional Parties!

Bhubaneswar: (Ajoy Kumar Misra) Even as the political parties gear up for the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, the Congress seems to be in the most embarrassing situation and its leader Rahul Gandhi in difficulties to keep both the party and the allies together. The ‘big brother’ attitude of the grand old party is gone with the drubbing it received in both Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir in the recently concluded election in those two states.

RaGa was upbeat after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections bagging 99 seats and had virtually dreamt of forming the government with INDIA block allies- a dream shattered—after improving its tally of 44 in the 2029 election. He left no chance to criticize Prime Minister Narendra both in the country and in international forum. Little did he expect that the drubbing in the Haryana and J&K election will dent his image so badly.

It was first the Aam Aadmi Party followed by the National Conference in the valley which virtually ditched the Congress. The AAP announced no pact with Congress during Assembly election in Delhi due in the next four months and the NC, which had alliance with the Congress before the Assembly polls, shunned Congress during the formation of Government in the State. The Congress bagged only six seats and the NC managed the support of several independents and was not keen on Congress support. This apparently hurt the Congress but there was no alternative left for the grand old party.

In both Maharashtra and Jharkhand, the Congress is facing difficulties to cope with or accommodate the demand of the regional parties—JMM in Jharkhand and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackrey) in Maharashtra. While rival BJP is way ahead in finalizing the list of candidates for the elections in these two states, the Congress is unable to do so. The JMM is not attaching that much importance to the Congress in Jharkhand while Uddhav Thackrey has kept the Congress guessing on its moves for the polls. There are conflicting reports and the statements of the alliance leaders have added to the owes of the Congress.

In such a scenario, the Congress has found itself in a precarious situation. It is forced to accept the terms and conditions of the INDIA block allies which can be due to the fear of losing identity in these two states. It has virtually succumbed to JMM in Jharkhand which is hell bent on having a better slice in the seat sharing formula and has earned the annoyance of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) as it was kept out of the meeting where the seat sharing formula was worked out. RJD has threatened to mete out the same treatment to the Congress during the Bihar polls due next year.

The Congress has also succumbed to the demand of the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh. SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav unilaterally declared seven candidates for the 10 bye-elections in State being held along with the Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly polls.

This situation has resulted from the drubbing the grand old party received in the Haryana elections. INDIA bloc allies have stopped acknowledging the supremacy of the Congress over others in the alliance, especially after the Haryana polls. After the Lok Sabha elections, Congress’ de facto supremo Rahul Gandhi had tried to project himself as the main driver of the INDIA block’s rising graph. But now is virtually on its knees before the allies.