What Congress’s self-goal in Haryana means for INDIA bloc – and the message from BJP’s Kashmir failure

A fewer broad-strokes volition champion explicate (the granular investigation of the numbers volition beryllium successful respective pie-charts successful each quality mean anyway) however India, ever a tricky conundrum, has amazed itself.

For one, PM Modi indispensable beryllium hopelessly nonplussed; his 2 large trump cards, the Ram temple operation and the abrogation of Art 370 successful Jammu and Kashmir, which were imperishable fixtures successful the BJP manifesto for decades, person made negligible interaction connected the party’s governmental fortunes. BJP mislaid the Faizabad spot (Ayodhya is located successful this constituency), which has 78 per cent Hindu population, and was humbled crossed Uttar Pradesh by the INDIA bloc. Religious polarisation, its governmental concern model, had failed to deliver. The J&K results are further grounds of its over-reliance connected the majoritarian programme.

If post-2019, determination had so been a sincere, inclusive outreach towards societal assimilation of disparate groups, wherefore did the BJP tract lone 19 candidates from 47 constituencies successful the Kashmir Valley? Why did it not triumph a azygous seat? Why was its vote-share a laughable single-digit figure? But possibly the astir unmistakable rejection of its Kashmir authorities is the striking underperformance successful Jammu, which it had intelligibly considered its affluent cache, a guaranteed sure-shot sweep. Despite the gerrymandering that led to an summation of 43 seats successful Jammu, the BJP got lone 28 seats. In 2014, it had won 25. If the Congress had shown an avaricious appetite, the BJP would person faced a wipeout successful Jammu too. The disillusionment with the politically motivated and hastily rescinded Article 370 and the nonaccomplishment of statehood that followed had wounded sentiments cutting crossed spiritual lines, too the lack of an economical windfall which was assured. There could not beryllium a much stunning rebuke from the radical of J&K to the BJP’s gameplan to due for itself a majoritarian-nationalist enactment stature. Whatever happened to the Insaaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat trope of erstwhile PM Atal Behari Vajpayee which was cursorily abandoned? The hard information is that Kashmir became a governmental laboratory to presumption India’s largest number colonisation arsenic 5th columnists crossed India. The J&K effect means that the stratagem backfired. Former Governor and consequent rebel Satya Pal Malik is astir apt having the past laugh.

Secondly, successful politics, momentum is simply a captious play. Post-June 4, 2024, Rahul Gandhi is the agenda-setter, and helium is doing that with chill aplomb. The absorption looked galvanised. The tailwinds were helping; Arvind Kejriwal’s merchandise from situation added to the absorption arsenal. The NC-INC confederation successful J&K, the professed solidarity betwixt the squabbling Congress bigwigs successful Haryana, and the comparatively tactful knowing emerging successful the MVA confederation successful Maharashtra, appeared to clasp a batch of promise. But Congress committed hara-kiri; a déjà vu reminiscent of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh of astir a twelvemonth ago. Political arrogance is its bugbear, and successful losing Haryana (like it did Punjab to AAP earlier), the Congress sent retired a woeful connection that its governmental comeback was inactive an incomplete project.

The adjacent illness of JJP and PDP, some opportunistic allies of the BJP, successful these elections shows that a dalliance with the saffron enactment is akin to a buss of death. There is simply a acquisition determination for the Congress: For the biggest predetermination of the play coming up successful Maharashtra successful November, 2024, it volition assistance if the enactment backs Uddhav Thackeray arsenic the main ministerial candidate. Petty egos, section leaders getting greedy, oregon a myopic knowing of the ramification of that election, could beryllium disastrous for the INDIA bloc. They person a chance, but similar Haryana, they could connection it magnanimously to the BJP connected a metallic platter.

Thirdly, the gorilla successful the country is the diminishing governmental marque of Modi, Haryana notwithstanding. After falling woefully abbreviated of the pompous 400 fig successful the Lok Sabha, Modi looks a woebegone shadiness of his earlier occurrence and brimstone avatar. The NDA 3.0 nether greater nationalist scrutiny looks frangible; its economical grounds is iffy, its governance shambolic, contempt the braggadocio. The crowds person thinned and got bored by the execrable verbiage. But Modi and the BJP are pugnacious losers; and arsenic Haryana shows, the BJP’s hunger for powerfulness is its USP. The Congress is blessed to inclination connected Twitter.

But for the moment, the gutsy wrestler Vinesh Phogat is symbolic of the powerfulness of the nationalist voice. Hurt and humiliated, shamed and targeted, she hung in. Her electoral occurrence is Olympian.

The writer is simply a erstwhile Congress spokesperson