Poll results won’t impact INDIA bloc: Opposition leaders
New Delhi: Day after the Congress’ debacle in Assembly polls that saw the BJP win three states, Opposition leaders on Monday said that the results will not impact the INDIA bloc but the Opposition parties need to work harder for the Lok Sabha polls next year. Nevertheless, rumblings have surfaced in the INDIA bloc ahead of its meeting, with many leaders claiming that the grand old party ignored others, but was unable to win elections on its own.
The BJP swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Sunday, inflicting a resounding defeat on the Congress to tighten its stranglehold in the Hindi heartland, in a big boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and setting the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In some consolation for the Congress in the face of the saffron wave after it lost Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the party ousted the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana.
A day after the results, National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah said the Opposition INDIA bloc parties will have to work harder.
Asked about the results and its possible impact on the alliance, he said, “It will make no difference to the alliance. We will have to work harder.”
“Victories and losses happen. We should learn from the defeat, as well as from those who have won. India has to be one, it is for everyone, and we need to strengthen the country,” the NC leader said.
Asked about the Samajwadi Party not being accommodated in Madhya Pradesh by the Congress while announcing its candidates for the state and its possible impact on the results, Abdullah said, “All will have to be accommodated and we will have to move forward.”
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Manoj Jha also said the results will not impact the alliance.
“These were state polls. These should be left behind. National elections will be held on different issues. It (Assembly poll results) will not have any impact, everyone will have to understand the unity of the INDIA bloc... there is no contradiction,” he said.
Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said his party will introspect on what went wrong in the polls and maintained that it will not impact the Opposition grouping.
All Opposition parties attended the meeting at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s office in Parliament on Monday morning, he said.
On the issue of SP not being made an alliance partner in Madhya Pradesh, Venugopal said, “They have the freedom to complain and some complaints may be genuine too. We will examine and make required corrections.”
The loss for the Congress appeared to weaken its position in the INDIA bloc where party equations could change, as other Opposition parties may no longer consider it as the fulcrum of the new alliance.
Congress’ drubbing at the hands of the BJP shows there is a significant wave against the grand old party in the Hindi heartland, senior AAP leaders said.
The leaders expressed the view that the Congress should be more accommodating towards regional parties in states during seat sharing since they are better placed to take on the BJP there.
“The results of the three states show there is a significant anti-Congress sentiment in North India. The purpose of Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is to defeat the BJP in Lok Sabha polls, so Congress should give more space to regional parties in the states where they are better placed to combat the BJP,” said a senior party leader, requesting anonymity.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Congress’ “greed and lust for power” were the reasons for its poll defeat.
He said the Congress thought it was competent to win against the BJP on its own and therefore, did not join forces with the other INDIA alliance parties in these states to present a united front against the saffron party.
“Had they joined hands with the other parties, this would not have been the result. They were greedy and had a lust for power. They wanted it all for themselves. That is what led to this situation in those states.
“If everyone was together, the result would have been an entirely different one,” the CPI(M) veteran told a news conference in Thrissur.
Meanwhile, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) MP Chirag Paswan blamed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the caste survey held in Bihar responsible for the loss. Paswan joined the BJP-led NDA in July.
“The Opposition was making self goals and it is Bihar CM Nitish Kumar who has caused maximum damage to the INDI Alliance. The comments he made against women, the kind of remarks they made against Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes leaders... the kind of remarks made against former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi impacted them,” he said.
“Their own policy backfired. Their leaders said they would conduct caste surveys. But the people of those states realised that there were discrepancies in the caste survey in Bihar... This affected the alliance and I believe Nitish Kumar is the main reason for the damage to the INDI Alliance,” Paswan said.with agency inputs
