New Delhi, December 4
The 3-1 verdict thrown up by the crucial four Assembly elections today left the Congress devastated. Its single victory in Delhi did little to compensate for the drubbing it received in the other three states.
The mood at the Congress headquarters was predictably funereal. Senior party leaders, except those who surfaced on television channels, were conspicous by their absence.
And those who were around were found groping for answers to explain the party’s dismal performance. Although reconciled to a defeat in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP’s convincing victories in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh came as a clear shock to the Congress. What this effectively means is that the Congress has virtually been wiped out in the Northern belt.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who successfully avoided the Press during the day, was eventually cornered at the Navy Day function where she admitted she was disappointed by the party’s performance. “I look at it with disappointment....I am particularly disappointed about Rajasthan as we had done good work there,” she said, admitting that the anti-incumbency factor had worked against them in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
While a detailed introspection exercise is yet to be undertaken, the Congress leaders maintained that different factors had operated in different states during these elections. In Madhya Pradesh, an angry electorate had voted out the two-term Chief Minister Digvijay Singh for poor governance. As for Rajasthan, the party had underestimated the alienation of the Jats and in Chhattisgarh, people had revolted against Chief Minister Ajit Jogi’s autocratic style of functioning.
The party will have to get its act together, especially if the BJP decides to go for an early Lok Sabha poll.
It will have to rethink its strategy to market itself on the twin planks of stablity and good governance, which have been effectively usurped by the BJP. It will have to drop its perceived big-brother attitude and be more accommodating in forging alliances.
It will have to deal with the possible impact of this verdict on the simmering dissidence in Punjab, Kerala and Maharashtra. More immediately, there will be pressure to go in for an organisational shake-up with AICC general secretary Ambika Soni coming under increasing attack as she had assumed full
responsibility for the Rajasthan election.
On record, however, the Congress put up a brave front with party spokesperson S. Jaipal Reddy delving into history to explain the party’s poor performance. While acknowledging that the anti-incumbency factor had worked against them, Mr Reddy said the results were no surprise as these four states had always been sharply bipolar with BJP and Congress winning here in turns.
Mr Reddy did not agree that the verdict was a reflection on Ms Sonia Gandhi’s leadership. “We do not credit the Delhi victory to her,nor do we debit the defeats to her,” he maintained. As for possible changes in the party, he said, “Change is always there but we don’t believe in knee-jerk changes.”
