'Arrogance Is A Recipe For Disaster': Allies Troll Congress After Haryana Poll Shocker

The election results in Haryana came as a shocker for the Congress Party, which was hopeful of a comfortable win in the northern state as per the early trend projections. However, in a major turnaround, the BJP registered victory in the 90-seat assembly by winning 49 seats. As the big twist prompted criticism, INDI allies shared Congress’ “recipe for disaster”. Party members, too, joined the chorus, blaming “poor management”.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) said, “Arrogance, entitlement, and looking down on regional parties is a recipe for disaster.”

TMC’s Saket Gokhale took to X, writing, “This attitude leads to electoral losses- “if we feel we’re winning, we will not accommodate any regional party- but in states where we’re down, regional parties must accommodate us. Arrogance, entitlement, and looking down on regional parties is a recipe for disaster. Learn!”

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi felt the grand old party needed to reflect on its strategy. “The Congress party needs to think about its strategy because wherever there is a direct fight with the BJP, the Congress party gets weakened,” she said.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha, in a cryptic post on X, took a veiled dig at Congress. He shared a a few lines in Urdu that roughly translated to, “If you had cared about my wishes, it would have been a different matter, If you had taken care of our desires, it would have been a different evening. Today he too must be regretting leaving me, If we had walked together it would have been something else.”

He was referring to the failed alliance talks between his party and the Congress ahead of the Haryana polls.

AAP Spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said, “We will contest Delhi (assembly) elections alone. On one side it’s the overconfident Congress and on the other side, it’s the arrogant BJP. We will contest the election based on what we have done in Delhi in the last 10 years.”

Congress Leaders Join Critics

Senior party leader and former union minister Margaret Alva blamed poor management and no balance.

“In this election we failed to strike that balance. Large numbers of rebel candidates point to poor party management. 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,” she wrote on X.

“The results in Haryana are disappointing. I was AICC General Secretary in charge of Haryana from 2004 to 2009 when the Congress won the state twice. Winning required staying neutral & unifying the party – striking a balance between individual aspiration & the good of the party,” she reflected.

Congress Sirsa MP and former union minister Kumari Selja, who largely stayed away from the party’s campaign, expressed disappointment over the party’s performance and said that they will analyse the results and identify those responsible for the defeat.

Additionally, in a veiled dig at former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son Deepinder Hooda, Selja also questioned the accountability for the poll loss without naming them directly and flagged the issue of coordination among leaders in the state.

“The results are disappointing. Until morning, we were hopeful. All our workers are upset, they have worked for the last 10 years for the Congress party and when such a result comes, there is a huge disappointment,” Selja told the media on Tuesday as the trends showed the Congress trailing behind expectations.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference’s Omar Abdullah sarcastically said in an interview, “I am sure the Congress is unhappy with its own performance. I don’t have anything to add to its injury. The BJP pulled the Haryana twist out of nowhere. I am sure Congress will sit back and analyse later.”