‘Missing leaders, internal sabotage’: Congress candidates who lost Haryana polls open up to AICC inquiry committee

“I spoke to the committee over the phone on Tuesday,” said a Congress candidate who lost the election. “I told them that people from Deepender Singh Hooda’s camp openly campaigned against me, telling people that I should not win. I also told the committee that the BJP benefitted from polarisation against Jats. They spread a narrative for Jats in Haryana like they do for Muslims in other parts – that if the Congress comes to power everything will be taken away by the Jats. I also suffered because former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda didn’t seek votes for me from the stage when Rahul Gandhi was also there. The narrative among Jats against me was that Hooda ji was not supporting me. So I lost the votes of Jats too and other communities didn’t vote for me because of the narrative spread by the BJP.”

Another candidate who lost the election said he told the committee about the “lack of communication from the top leadership” about Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s programmes in the state.

“Initially, we were told that Rahul ji and Priyanka ji would cover 46 constituencies, but eventually they covered only 20-22 seats. This also meant that I could not focus on my campaign and I had to constantly be worried about Rahul ji’s programmes. Because, if Rahul ji had come and I hadn’t made proper arrangements or couldn’t gather a crowd, I would have been blamed for a poor show. The Vijay Sankalp Yatra led by Rahul ji and Priyanka ji happened very late,” said the Congress nominee.

He also blamed Hooda, Sirsa MP Kumari Selja, and senior leader Randeep Singh Surjewala for giving hope to too many ticket aspirants. “They went around telling everyone they should prepare to contest the election. In each seat, the party had 24-30 aspirants. Those who missed out were disappointed and worked against the party’s candidate. This could have been stopped had the top leadership strictly told them not to sabotage the chances of the official nominees and told them they would be taken care of. I have told the committee all these things and I hope it reaches the top leadership,” said the candidate.

Another Congress candidate who lost the election said the absence of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) on the ground also contributed to the defeat. “I have told Baghel ji and Chaudhary ji that the PCC was absent during the elections. They were not accessible, not even on the phone. The AICC (All India Congress Committee) leaders were more accessible than the state leadership. Some candidates needed support from the PCC but that was missing. We were all on our own it seemed,” said the leader.

Anita Yadav who lost to the BJP’s Arti Singh Rao from Ateli also blamed Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) — something the Congress leadership itself has publicly raised — and “pressure” from the local administration. “How can EVMs have 99% battery when they have been used for days? That is what I told the committee as well. There was also pressure exerted by the local administration on our supporters during campaigning and also on the people who supported me,” Yadav alleged. While the Congress has alleged irregularities in EVMs and has registered several complaints with the Election Commission (EC), the polling body has dismissed the allegations.