Rahul Gandhi finally speaks up on election results, skips thorny issues, even as calls grow for accountability

Gandhi also seemed to back the decision by the party to approach the Election Commission, mentioning “complaints coming from many Assembly constituencies” in Haryana.

The Congress leader’s reaction, silent on any internal introspection, is set to come under increasing strain, as voices grow within the party over the Haryana performance, with several fingers pointed at the high command and seeking accountability.

Many also expressed bafflement over Gandhi’s decision not to say anything on the results Tuesday, and his failure to congratulate NC vice-president Omar Abdullah. Even Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have been silent.

Omar and Gandhi, incidentally, did not share the stage all through the poll campaign, with Omar expressing exasperation over the Congress’s lacklustre efforts in Jammu, where Gandhi remained largely missing.

However, more than J&K, the Congress needs the Gandhis to fight the fires in Haryana, where the party is seen as having lost an election that was in its bag. Many questioned privately, and in public, the free rein to Bhupinder Singh Hooda in running the Congress campaign, including ticket distribution. While Hooda is believed to have twisted the Congress’s arm, leaders are asking why the high command capitulated.

With the non-Jat vote, including OBCs, seen as having consolidated behind the BJP, AICC OBC Department chairman Captain Ajay Singh Yadav posted on X, tagging Gandhi: “The party should introspect for its failure in southern Haryana especially Gurugram, Rewari, Mahendragarh and Faridabad where it won just 1 seat. Ahirwal has no representation in CWC, CEC, AICC General Secretaries and even in HPCC… Chairman AICC OBC is an eyewash and toothless.”

Yadav, who belongs to Haryana and whose son Chiranjeev Rao was among the Congress candidates who lost, added that the “tussle in Haryana Congress for becoming CM before getting the people’s mandate was a big blunder”.

A leader said: “While we are talking about mismanagement by Hooda… one should not forget that those sitting in Delhi allowed him to do so. Why didn’t they intervene despite repeated warnings by leaders like Kumari Selja? Those overseeing the party’s affairs should share equal blame.”

Another leader hoped that the party would not form “yet another committee for introspection”. “Nothing comes out of such committees.”

Veteran Congress leader Margaret Alva, who was once the AICC general secretary in-charge of Haryana, also expressed disappointment at the results, posting: “Winning required staying neutral & unifying the party – striking a balance between individual aspiration & the good of the party. In this election we failed to strike that balance… The petty public squabbles, false bravado & and a campaign that made many sections of Haryana society insecure all led to converting a sure win into a loss.”

Speaking to The Indian Express after the results, Selja, who did not hide her anger with Hooda through the campaign, pointed to the high command’s inaction. “The entire team of so-called strategists kept everything in their own hands. We kept saying that party workers were being ignored, but nothing happened. They (the party high command) called us, heard us, we gave our choice of candidates, but they didn’t do anything,” she said.

Senior Congress leaders talked of mismanagement at several levels. A leader said: “I was aghast to hear that senior BJP leader who has considerable influence over his caste group in a region of Haryana was keen to join the party but the high command kept him waiting. He wanted a ticket for his daughter. There was no love lost between that leader and Hooda, but the high command should have intervened. And then you induct Ashok Tanwar, a habitual party hopper, right on the eve of elections… What were we thinking?”

Another leader pointed to the presence of Congress rebels. “Did we reach out to them and persuade them to withdraw? Because many of them were propped up by Hooda himself. And what about Sunil Kanugolu, our in-house Chanakya? He did constituency-wise surveys to find out the best possible candidate. Were all of them given tickets? What was their performance? And if all were not given tickets, then who decided the candidates?” the leader said.

In fact, as many as 72 of the Congress’s 89 candidates were Hooda loyalists. Rivals Selja and AICC general secretary Randeep Surjewala managed to get tickets for a handful of followers, and the high command for another few. Three of the high command candidates lost due to the presence of rebels, all of them close to Hooda.

These constituencies included Ballabgarh, where official Congress candidate Parag Sharma got 8,000-plus votes, while rebel Sharda Rathore secured over 44,000 votes; Tigaon, where Congress candidate Rohit Nagar was pushed to the third spot by rebel Lalit Nagar, who got 56,000 votes; and Bhawani-Khera, where Pradeep Narwal, who got the ticket at the instance of Priyanka Vadra, lost, with a rebel hurting his chances.

The day after, many leaders also regretted that the party refused to share seats with the Samajwadi Party in the Ahirwal belt comprising Yadavs, which they feel could have been done easily, unlike any deal with the Aam Aadmi Party. “But then again, Hooda was dead against it, and the high command succumbed,” a leader said.