Congress’s defeat in Haryana was certainly an unexpected blow to the alliance of opposition parties. However, this result has put the regional parties in a stronger position in bargaining. Its impact will be visible first in states like Maharashtra and Jharkhand, where assembly elections are going to be held this year. After winning 99 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, the allies may get success in pushing the excited Congress on the backfoot.
As soon as Congress started lagging behind in Haryana on Tuesday, Shiv Sena UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi wasted no time in reacting. He said, “Despite the anti-incumbency wave, BJP is winning somewhere. This shows that Congress will have to rethink its battle plans. We have to look within ourselves and keep in mind that whenever there is a direct fight with BJP, Congress seems to be weakening. He will have to rework the entire alliance.”
Elections are near in Maharashtra. Here Congress is in alliance with Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar’s NCP. The overconfident Congress does not seem to be that sensitive on Shiv Sena’s demand for seat sharing and presenting Uddhav Thackeray as the CM candidate. In view of the defeat in Haryana and poor performance in Jammu, Congress can keep its ego aside and give preference to its allies.
Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party has not got a single seat in Haryana. She contested the elections alone. It may be easy for them to make equations for the elections to be held in Delhi. Kejriwal on Tuesday reminded the Congress leadership that no election should be taken lightly. Every election and every seat is difficult. “Let us see what the results are in Haryana,” he said. The biggest lesson of this is that one should never be overconfident in elections.”
There has been no statement yet from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Hemant Soren, who is preparing to contest elections from Maharashtra, but the results of Haryana will give Soren a chance to work on an alliance agreement with his ally Congress in the state. It will definitely be easier.
