Knives out in INDIA alliance after Congress drubbing: ‘Weakest link… party has to up its game’

With these losses, the Congress is now staring at a bigger crisis within its organisation and its allies are not happy either.

Loss of momentum for INDIA

Anger is boiling over in the INDIA bloc whose activities were stalled by the Congress in the run-up to the Assembly elections. This move arrested the momentum the alliance had managed to gain after its formation in June.

Now there is a view among allies that the Congress stonewalled attempts by regional parties to initiate seat-sharing negotiations as it hoped a good showing in the elections would give it an upper hand in talks.

An empty AICC office in New Delhi on Sunday. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)

Adding insult to injury, many leaders of the INDIA alliance do not seem too keen on the Congress’s decision to convene a meeting of the alliance’s leaders on December 6.

“This is the defeat of the Congress. We are sorry that it happened just before the Lok Sabha elections. This is not the defeat of the INDIA bloc. The meeting that they have now called on sixth should have been called earlier. They should have taken into confidence INDIA bloc parties who would have campaigned for the Congress,” senior Janata Dal (United) leader K C Tyagi told The Indian Express.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the Congress’s losses were “more a Congress failure than a BJP success story”. He said in a post across social media platforms, “The TMC is the party which can provide leadership in the battle to defeat the BJP in the country.”

Tyagi said the Congress’s decision not to invite any of the constituents of the INDIA bloc for campaigning showed their “overenthusiasm and overconfidence”. He, however, argued that the INDIA parties should now “come together with new methods” to take on the BJP. “It has become clear that the new politics, slogans and leadership can be taken on only if all of us come together,” Tyagi added.

TMC sources said Abhishek Banerjee, its second-in-command who is a member of the coordination committee of the INDIA bloc, may not attend the December 6 meeting. “We have been pleading with the Congress to convene a meeting of the INDIA alliance. They stalled all activities and we lost the momentum. Now they have called a meeting, what for?” a leader asked.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was quick to earmark its territory, claiming the position of the “largest Opposition party” in north India. As trends in the four states were becoming clear, senior AAP leader Jasmine Shah tweeted, “After today’s results, Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the largest Opposition party in north India with 2 state governments — Punjab and Delhi.”

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) national spokesperson Subodh Kumar Mehta said it was important to “sit together soon and rework plans” for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

‘Bloc’s weakest link’

The Congress’s wipeout in the Hindi heartland, one leader said, would now make the Congress a “baggage” within the alliance.

“Regional parties such as the DMK and the Trinamool Congress will clock in good performances … It is the Congress which has to up its game as it is in a direct battle with the BJP in most of the heartland seats. It is an irony that the party which claims itself as the leader of the alliance is the bloc’s weakest link,” one leader said.

Interestingly, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge mentioned the INDIA alliance in his first response to the results. “The Congress Party participated in the elections of these four states with full force. I express my gratitude to our countless workers. Without getting disheartened by this defeat, we, along with INDIA parties, have to start preparing for the Lok Sabha elections with double enthusiasm,” he wrote on social media.

The Left is too upset with the Congress. “These results underline the need for the secular democratic forces to redouble their efforts in order to safeguard people’s livelihood and defend the secular democratic character of the Indian republic. These will have to be redoubled by all the secular democratic forces,” said CPI(M_ general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

CPI general secretary D Raja spoke along similar lines while Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan did not mince words, saying that the Congress’s thinking that “it was a big power” had “led to its present downfall”, Vijayan said. He also alleged that Congress leader Kamal Nath was “the BJP’s B team in Madhya Pradesh” as he did not “oppose communal acts”.

“The thinking that adopting a soft Hindutva stand would help to defeat extreme Hindutva is an illusion. Their (Congress) campaign was helpful for the BJP (in Madhya Pradesh) … This misfortune was created by the Congress,” Vijayan said.

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut said the outcome of the Madhya Pradesh result would have been different had the Congress shared some seats with constituents of the INDIA bloc. He said the Congress should revisit its outlook towards allies and alleged that it was Kamal Nath who had opposed the sharing of seats with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP). “His (Akhilesh’s) party has good support in some areas, including some 10-12 seats known as the strongholds of the party,” he told reporters.

National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah echoed Raut’s views and said if this “situation of the INDIA alliance” continues in the future then it “would not be able to save” itself. “The Congress could not understand the ground situation in Madhya Pradesh. What would have they lost if they had given five to seven seats to Akhilesh Yadav?” he asked.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar, however, argued that the results would not have any impact on the Opposition alliance. “I do not think this will have any impact on the INDIA alliance. We will be meeting at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in Delhi. We will speak to those who know the ground reality. We will be able to comment on it after the meeting only,” Pawar said.