Still reeling from its decimation in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress now has to contend with legislators in several states quitting the party to join the Bharatiya Janata Party. There are rumours that even veteran Delhi Congress leader Dr AK Walia is in talks to join the BJP.
What makes the situation worse is that members of legislative assemblies from regional parties are also joining the BJP, making it hard for the Congress to compete.
The party is now desperately looking to form alliances with regional parties and even independent MLAs to save face in the upcoming state elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir.
Jharkhand
With the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha deciding to merge with the BJP, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the Congress to establish any sort of stronghold in the state. The party’s general secretary in the state, BK Hariprasad, says it is looking to put together an alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, with which it has already reached an agreement in Bihar. The party is also working on a tie-up with Janata Dal (United), which split with the BJP before the general elections.
The party already has an alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. However, the district presidents in the region are not keen to continue with it, following the JMM’s demand that it be allocated 25-30 of the 81 seats in state polls due at the end of the year.
“The party has a stronghold in the state and it will perform much better if we contest on our own instead of seat sharing,” a district president of the Congress said. “The leadership should not concede to the demands of the regional alliances and deprive our own people of a chance to contest the polls.”
Jammu and Kashmir
The situation here is no better for the Congress. The decision last month to terminate its alliance with the National Conference will work against the party. Muslim votes in the state will now be divided between the Congress, the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party.
Despite this, Congress leaders are hopeful that the party will obtain a working majority in the assembly if they play their cards right in the state elections later this year. While they do not deny that the BJP’s aggressive campaign in the state could show results, they are confident that the goodwill of the Congress MLAs in the region will boost the party’s performance.
“We need a solid action plan and we need it immediately,” said Salman Aneez Soz, a youth leader and the son of state Congress chief Saifuddin Soz. “The key to success is to introduce fresh faces for the seats that the party didn’t win last time. The party leadership should realise that a change is required and we can’t continue with faces and strategies that have failed in the past.”
Anuradha Bhasin, a journalist for Kashmir Times, says that the election is too uncertain to predict. “The BJP was successful in the Lok Sabha elections, but the people are not happy with the incumbent BJP MLAs in the Jammu region,” Bhasin said. “Meanwhile, in the valley the vote share will be divided between Congress, PDP and the National Conference. So it is impossible to predict the results.”
Maharashtra
While the Congress is not directly in talks with the regional parties here, Sharad Pawar, the leader of its partner, the National Congress Party, has been in talks with the Samajwadi Party to join hands in the state, since the party has influence on regional and religious minorities in the state.
The NCP leader is also said to be keen to form an alliance with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and is meeting the party chief Raj Thackeray next week, political workers said.
The Congress is desperate to retain the state government in Maharashtra, and is said to even have considered approaching a great rival, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister on Sunday claimed that Pawar had spoken to BSP leader SC Mishra about the possibility of entering an electoral alliance in the state. But the BSP has refused to form any sort of alliance with either the NCP or the Congress.
Haryana
Despite objections from party workers, the Congress has once again selected chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to lead its election campaign in the state.
The party's prospects do not seem bright. An ABP News-Nielsen pre-poll survey predicted that the Congress will win only 13 of the 90 seats in the assembly, the worst performance of the major parties. The survey indicates that the BJP is likely to win 46 and the Indian National Lok Dal 19.
The Congress does not have an alliance partner in the state and most of its popular senior leaders have left the party to join the BJP. Chaudhary Birender Singh was the most recent.
Yet state party leaders are talking to small local parties and encouraging them to support the Congress and campaign against the BJP. The Congress is trying to capitalise on the tension between the BJP and its ally, the Haryana Janhit Congress.
“The party is trying to fix a meeting between Kuldeep Bishnoi, the chief of HJC and the chief minister,” a Congress MLA from Haryana said. “We intend to talk about the possibility of outside support to Bishnoi if we don’t get a majority in the state.”
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
What makes the situation worse is that members of legislative assemblies from regional parties are also joining the BJP, making it hard for the Congress to compete.
The party is now desperately looking to form alliances with regional parties and even independent MLAs to save face in the upcoming state elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir.
Jharkhand
With the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha deciding to merge with the BJP, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the Congress to establish any sort of stronghold in the state. The party’s general secretary in the state, BK Hariprasad, says it is looking to put together an alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, with which it has already reached an agreement in Bihar. The party is also working on a tie-up with Janata Dal (United), which split with the BJP before the general elections.
The party already has an alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. However, the district presidents in the region are not keen to continue with it, following the JMM’s demand that it be allocated 25-30 of the 81 seats in state polls due at the end of the year.
“The party has a stronghold in the state and it will perform much better if we contest on our own instead of seat sharing,” a district president of the Congress said. “The leadership should not concede to the demands of the regional alliances and deprive our own people of a chance to contest the polls.”
Jammu and Kashmir
The situation here is no better for the Congress. The decision last month to terminate its alliance with the National Conference will work against the party. Muslim votes in the state will now be divided between the Congress, the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party.
Despite this, Congress leaders are hopeful that the party will obtain a working majority in the assembly if they play their cards right in the state elections later this year. While they do not deny that the BJP’s aggressive campaign in the state could show results, they are confident that the goodwill of the Congress MLAs in the region will boost the party’s performance.
“We need a solid action plan and we need it immediately,” said Salman Aneez Soz, a youth leader and the son of state Congress chief Saifuddin Soz. “The key to success is to introduce fresh faces for the seats that the party didn’t win last time. The party leadership should realise that a change is required and we can’t continue with faces and strategies that have failed in the past.”
Anuradha Bhasin, a journalist for Kashmir Times, says that the election is too uncertain to predict. “The BJP was successful in the Lok Sabha elections, but the people are not happy with the incumbent BJP MLAs in the Jammu region,” Bhasin said. “Meanwhile, in the valley the vote share will be divided between Congress, PDP and the National Conference. So it is impossible to predict the results.”
Maharashtra
While the Congress is not directly in talks with the regional parties here, Sharad Pawar, the leader of its partner, the National Congress Party, has been in talks with the Samajwadi Party to join hands in the state, since the party has influence on regional and religious minorities in the state.
The NCP leader is also said to be keen to form an alliance with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and is meeting the party chief Raj Thackeray next week, political workers said.
The Congress is desperate to retain the state government in Maharashtra, and is said to even have considered approaching a great rival, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister on Sunday claimed that Pawar had spoken to BSP leader SC Mishra about the possibility of entering an electoral alliance in the state. But the BSP has refused to form any sort of alliance with either the NCP or the Congress.
Haryana
Despite objections from party workers, the Congress has once again selected chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to lead its election campaign in the state.
The party's prospects do not seem bright. An ABP News-Nielsen pre-poll survey predicted that the Congress will win only 13 of the 90 seats in the assembly, the worst performance of the major parties. The survey indicates that the BJP is likely to win 46 and the Indian National Lok Dal 19.
The Congress does not have an alliance partner in the state and most of its popular senior leaders have left the party to join the BJP. Chaudhary Birender Singh was the most recent.
Yet state party leaders are talking to small local parties and encouraging them to support the Congress and campaign against the BJP. The Congress is trying to capitalise on the tension between the BJP and its ally, the Haryana Janhit Congress.
“The party is trying to fix a meeting between Kuldeep Bishnoi, the chief of HJC and the chief minister,” a Congress MLA from Haryana said. “We intend to talk about the possibility of outside support to Bishnoi if we don’t get a majority in the state.”