Haryana Congress leaders gave priority to own interests: Rahul on defeat

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said Haryana leaders gave priority to their own interests rather than the party’s, leading to the shock defeat in the recent Assembly elections.

Rahul was speaking at a meeting convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to review the poll debacle in Haryana.

It was decided in the meeting to set up a committee to find out the reasons for the Congress’ defeat despite expectations of it sailing to victory riding on the anti-incumbency wave against the BJP.

None from the Congress’ Haryana unit was present in the meeting held at the residence of Kharge. The central leaders are expected to meet state leaders soon.

Discussed various factors

Everyone knows that the results of the Haryana elections were unexpected. There was a huge difference between the exit poll and the actual results. We have discussed various factors on which we will take further action. —Ajay Maken, aicc treasurer

Besides Kharge and Rahul, other top Congress leaders who attended the meeting included party general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, AICC treasurer Ajay Maken, who was made in-charge for the state elections, and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Dipak Babaria, Congress general secretary and in-charge of Haryana, who is not keeping well, attended the meeting virtually. During the meeting, Venugopal called him up and sought some information from him.

The victory in Haryana has come as a big morale booster for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A resurgent BJP has now shifted focus to Maharashtra and Jharkhand where it expects to “repeat” its performance during the Assembly elections slated later this year. Rahul, on the other hand, remained silent on Tuesday when the counting of votes for Haryana was underway. Reacting finally on Wednesday, he described the outcome as “unexpected”.

Venting his feelings today, Rahul said the interest of the party was sacrificed by senior leaders in Haryana to promote their own interests.

Rahul had suggested a tie-up with the Aam Aadmi Party in Haryana. The proposal was scuttled by local leaders who were confident of securing comprehensive victory on their own. Besides “overconfidence”, the running feud among the aspirants for the CM’s post and the presence of rebel candidates in a large number of seats are also said to among the reasons that led to the poll debacle.

In the review meeting today, Congress leaders also discussed urging the Election Commission to expeditiously probe complaint about discrepancies in EVMs used for voting in some of the constituencies.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Maken said, “Everyone knows that the results of the Haryana elections were unexpected. There was a huge difference between the exit poll and the actual results. We have discussed various factors related to the result, on which we will take further action.