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The Congress party, facing the shock of a defeat in the recent Haryana assembly polls, convened a review meeting on Thursday to dissect the reasons behind their unexpected loss. Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge led the meeting, which included prominent figures such as former party president Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, and senior observers Ashok Gehlot and Ajay Maken. The meeting was also attended by AICC secretaries for the state, with Deepak Babaria, the AICC in-charge of the state, joining online.
After the meeting, Ajay Maken, a key Congress leader, addressed the media, acknowledging the surprise of the results. He highlighted the significant difference between exit polls, which had predicted a Congress victory, and the actual outcome. The party, he said, would analyze the reasons behind this discrepancy and take corrective measures for future elections. Maken pointed to a combination of factors, including internal differences and concerns about the functioning of the Election Commission, as potential contributors to the Congress's setback.
The review meeting came in the wake of a formal complaint filed by the Congress the previous day. The party had raised concerns about irregularities in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used during the vote counting process. A delegation of top Congress leaders, including former chief ministers Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Ashok Gehlot, along with AICC leaders Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Ajay Maken, and Pawan Khera, met with Election Commission officials in New Delhi to express their concerns. They presented a memorandum detailing specific complaints from various constituencies in Haryana.
The Congress leaders alleged that they had received at least 20 complaints, including seven in writing, regarding EVMs functioning at unusually high battery capacity. They pointed to instances where EVMs were operating at 99% battery capacity, while the average EVMs were found to be operating at 60 to 70% during the counting process. They demanded a thorough probe into these discrepancies and called for the sealing and securing of the affected EVMs pending the investigation.
Beyond the EVM concerns, internal party dynamics also played a role in the Congress's defeat. Infighting, overreliance on sitting MLAs, and rebel trouble appeared to be significant contributing factors to the party's inability to make a comeback in Haryana after a decade. Despite their initial confidence in dislodging the BJP after 10 years in power and facing anti-incumbency, the Congress fell short of their goals. Exit polls had predicted a comfortable win for the Congress, but the BJP emerged victorious with 48 seats, halting the Congress's comeback attempt and proving the predictions wrong. The Congress managed to secure only 37 seats in the 90-member assembly.
Source: Congress top brass reviews ‘unexpected’ Haryana poll verdict