As expected, shots were fired in the Congress camp following an unfavourable Haryana Assembly Election results on Tuesday. Proving exit polls wrong, the incumbent BJP returned to power for a third time by winning 48 of the 90-member state assembly.
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Senior MP Kumari Selja hit out at the state Congress machinery under Bhupinder Singh Hooda's leadership for failing to make the most of the anti-incumbency in the state and demanded the party's high command to hold people responsible for wasting a golden opportunity.
Congress had secured five out of ten Lok Sabha seats in the recent Lok Sabha election, surging its vote share to 43.67 per cent from 28.42 per cent. However, infighting within party ranks had pulled Congress down during the campaigning phase itself with an open power struggle between Lok Sabha MP Kumari Selja and veteran leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Hooda was given a free hand by the AICC ahead of the assembly polls to the dislike of Kumari Selja and others. As many as 70 supporters of Hooda got tickets, while Selja, who nurtured Chief Ministerial ambitions, could only put nine of her trusted lieutenants in the fray.
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An ifluential Dalit leader in Haryana. Kumari Selja skipped campaign events as Hooda tried to rally the dominant Jat community behind the Congress. Tuesday's result showed the strategy backfired, as the Jats didn't fully fall behind the Congress party. To make things worse, BJP managed a consolidation of non-Jat votes including that of Dalits, ensuring it would come back to power for a third consecutive term.
Responding to the defeat, Selja told reporters that she was confident that the Congress leadership would look into all aspects that led to the defeat. She exressed confidence that the high command would identify those responsible for negating the chance to win back its former bastion. Stressing the need to formulate a plan to rebuild Congress in Haryana, she said, "It will not be business as usual in Haryana and I am sure the Congress high command would identify those who negated the efforts to bring the party to power after 10 years".
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"I'm sure the party will look into all aspects that led to such results in Haryana... Pained by Congress workers' disappointment, I am confident the party high command will assess the reasons for the defeat. The high command should formulate a plan to help revive the party in Haryana and identify those responsible for the results," Shelja told reporters," Kumari Selja added.
