Congress election debacle opens discord in alliance; INDIA bloc meeting on December 6

NEW DELHI: With the results from four states almost getting settled, there is an air of uneasiness across the INDIA alliance with many turning against the congress leadership, questioning the grand old party's authority to dictate terms in the alliance. The Congress can only helplessly watch the collapse in the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, which they expected to win. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called a meeting of the 'INDIA' front in the wake of the election defeat. This coming Tuesday's meeting will be the first in three months.

No talks or contemplations took place in the alliance as they headed to battle the BJP in this crucial election. Congress showed a lack of management and rode in conceit and faltered in judging the might of Amit Shah and numero uno Narendra Modi despite suffering a row of defeats in the earlier years. Congress was riding on the success in Karnataka and took for granted that the same formula would pay dividends everywhere. India Alliance has been left flustered with the rout Congress received in the elections with some sections including the Samajwadi Party viewing the result with a tinge of schadenfreude for the denial from Congress top brass to allow three seats for Akhilesh Yadav’s party in Madhya Pradesh.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had publicly expressed his displeasure. In the wake of the election results, there is a possibility that the leaders of the opposition parties may reconsider aligning themselves with Congress. The debacle in the elections comes even after exit polls predicted a congress comeback in Madhya Pradesh.

In Rajasthan, internal clashes and the sidelining of popular leader Sachin Pilot added to the worries. In 2018, Sachin did yeoman work being the poster boy for Congress and was expected to be the next CM of Rajasthan, only to be then denied by Congress High Command, kickstarting the long tussle in the Rajasthan congress camp.

‘The Bharat Jodo Yatra’ which the media praised to have upended Indian politics in favour of Congress was nowhere effective when it came to elections. It seems the Jodo effect was restricted simply inside the many media studios but not among the people on the ground. Jodo Walk covered a big portion of Rajasthan and saw rousing receptions at many centres. The move did bring some impact but it was not sufficient to topple the mighty duo of Modi and Shah, and for sure, all the media praise instilling hopes about the 'Jodo effect' to help win congress elections was a faux pas.