'Art of turning victory into defeat ... ': Shiv Sena on Congress's Haryana debacle

NEW DELHI: Following the party's unexpected loss in the Haryana elections, Congress's INDIA bloc partners offered some advice, suggesting a re-evaluation of election strategy ahead of upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Delhi.
Leaders from the AAP, CPI, Shiv Sena (UBT), said that the most significant takeaway from the recent elections was to avoid being "overconfident" and questioned the Congress party's approach to the assembly elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the largest party in the Haryana assembly elections, securing 48 seats out of the total 90. The Congress party and managed to win only 37 seats, falling short of the majority mark. Independent candidates won 3 seats, while the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) could only secure 2 seats in the assembly.
However, the Congress party has refused to accept the election results, alleging that they "go against ground reality". "Results in Haryana are totally unexpected and surprising. They go against ground reality and the sentiment of the people which was for change," Congress general secretary Ramesh said at a press conference on Tuesday.
"Victory has been snatched from us in Haryana... the results are against the sentiment of the people which was for change. The Congress has been made to lose in Haryana and the chapter is not closed," Ramesh said.

Congress could not capitalize despite favourable situation, says Shiv Sena (UBT)
Congress's INDIA bloc partner in Maharashtra targeted Congress and questioned the Congress's decision to go solo in Haryana. Coming down heavily on Bhupinder Hooda and Congress leadership, Sena (UBT) mouthpiece, Saamana, in its editorial on Wednesday said that the reason for the party's defeat in Haryana was overconfidence.
"The results of the Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections are surprising for both the BJP and Congress. In Haryana, the Congress's defeat is attributed to over confidence. No one was firmly saying that the BJP would return to power in Haryana. Overall, the atmosphere suggested that Congress would win decisively; however, the art of how to turn a victory into a defeat can be learned from Congress."
Saamana said that there was an anti-BJP atmosphere in Haryana. "The situation was such that BJP ministers and candidates were not being allowed to enter the villages of Haryana, yet the results in Haryana went against the Congress. Despite the favorable situation in Haryana, the Congress could not capitalize on it. This happens everytime with the Congress," the editorial further said.
The editorial also attributed the rift between Bhupinder Hooda and Kumari Shelja as a reason for Congress's dismal performance, saying, "Hooda and his people publicly humiliated Shelja and the Congress high command in Delhi couldn't stop it. BJP was able to win Haryana because Congress's organisation was weak".
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut also targeted the grand-old-party, saying, "INDIA alliance could not win in Haryana because the Congress felt they would win on their own and they did not need any other partner in power. Congress leader Hooda Ji felt we would win. If they (Congress) had shared seats with the Samajwadi Party, AAP, or other smaller parties, the results would have been different."

"If Congress wants to go solo all over the country, then it should announce that so everyone else would be free to take their own decision in their respective states," the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader added.
Raut also praised the BJP for its performance in Haryana. "I believe the election that the BJP has fought is very good. The BJP won a lost battle," Raut said.
'Should never be overconfident,' AAP says targeting Congress
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which wanted alliance with Congress in Haryana, also questioned the Congress party's approach in the assembly elections.
"The biggest lesson of this is that one should never be overconfident in the elections," said former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
"No election should be taken lightly. Each election and each seat is tough," he further said while addressing a gathering of the AAP municipal councillors at an event on Tuesday.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP, Raghav Chadha also targeted Congress for ditching a likely alliance with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party. "Aaj woh bhi pachhta raha hoga mera saath chhordhkar, agar saath-saath chalte toh kuch aur baat hoti. (Today he too must be regretting leaving me, If we had walked together it would have been something else)," Raghav said in a post on X.

Cannot act as rajas: CPI
The Communist Party of India (CPI) also raised concerns about the Congress party's election strategy in Haryana and said the Congress's decision not to go for seat sharing worked against it.
D Raja, the general secretary of the CPI, said, "Congress party will have to do serious introspection. It has to do some self-critical assessment of its own strategy and tactics.".
"INDIA bloc parties should work with mutual trust in each other, and mutual accommodation in time of seat sharing. This did not happen in Haryana," D Raja added.
CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar also urged the Congress party to learn from the election outcomes. "The Congress should understand the gravity of the situation, and some of its leaders should be down to earth. They cannot act as rajas and big mass leaders. They should understand the reality. That is how in Haryana they got defeated," he added.