How will Jind by-election defeat affect Congress preparations for the Lok Sabha elections. There is speculation that the Assembly polls could be advanced and held along with the general elections? We have worked hard for the last four-and-a-half years, since we were ousted from the state and the Modi government came to power at the Centre. We have raised the issues of farmers, working class, small traders, employees and the law and order situation. One election outcome is not an indicator of the mood of the state. Sometimes the equations are such. That way, if you look at the INLD, the main opposition party, which fought in alliance with the BSP, it got only 3,454 votes. So this is not an indicator of the mood. The people of Haryana trust the Congress leadership. I am sure the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections will be held together. But we are prepared to face simultaneous elections. You spoke about the INLD. But while it had suffered a split, one faction of it (the Jannayak Janata Party, of Dushyant Chautala) came second. The BJP won despite anti-incumbency. Are these not worrying factors for the Congress? We have been losing Jind for 10 years. After delimitation, the seat was carved out in such a way that it suited the INLD. Remember Om Prakash Chautala was in power then. The general impression is that there was a clear Jat, non-Jat polarisation? The BJP benefited from the non-Jat vote bank. What is going to be your strategy to counter the non-Jat polarisation? The BJP always wants polarisation — be it on caste, religion or language lines. In Jind they used money power and state machinery. By-elections mostly go in favour of the ruling party. We have a Jat and a non-Jat leadership. The Congress is a party of every religion, region and caste, which the people of Haryana understand. Jind also has a sizeable Dalit vote bank. That is why the BSP was wiped out, and the INLD and BSP together got just 3,454 votes — the Dalit votes came to us. A major chunk of the votes we got were Dalit votes. There is talk of sabotage, that some people in your party worked to defeat the Congress candidate? The leadership issue is not settled. We will look into what happened. But we should all work together. My aim is to oust the BJP and keep the INLD out of power. As far as leadership is concerned, it is up to the high command. Everybody should focus on how to oust the present regime rather than thinking who gets what and have differences within. This is not the time to raise this issue. We must fight elections unitedly. Do you think the Congress should project a chief ministerial face? That we don’t do generally. But it is up to the top leadership to take a final call. Irrespective of what the decision is, the Congress is dearer to the people. The people have decided to bring the Congress back to power in Haryana. Will the Congress enter into an alliance with any party? No, the Congress is not going to have an alliance with anybody. That is the feeling of the state unit. The final decision is with the AICC. We are confident that alone we can deliver all the 10 Lok Sabha seats and get more than 80 of the 90 Assembly segments. The INLD-BSP combine came fifth while the JJP (Jannayak Janta Party) and AAP came second. But we fought alone and came third. So we are confident that such opportunistic alliances will not have any impact on the performance of the Haryana Congress. There is speculation that some top BJP leaders are upset with their party and could return to the Congress? Closer to elections you will see people from the INLD and BJP joining the Congress. Wherever there is space, we will fill that space. I don’t want to comment on individual names, but there are many senior leaders from various political parties who are looking at the Congress and think the party is gaining ground. They are fed up with the BJP and INLD. Those people will switch over to the Congress.
