NEW DELHI: After the Congress’ shock defeat in Haryana, the opposition INDIA bloc parties flexed their muscles on Wednesday, accusing the grand old party of ignoring them. They said this attitude should not be repeated in the future polls.Shiv Sena (UBT) turned out to be the biggest critic of the Congress, accusing it of ignoring other parties that resulted in the poll debacle. Leaders of the TMC, AAP, CPI(M), CPI and other parties also blamed the Congress for working alone, which led to the defeat in Haryana.The Congress will be contesting the Maharashtra polls as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance and the Jharkhand elections in tie-up with the JMM, which is also a part of the INDIA bloc.Several opposition leaders accused the Congress of banking on regional parties where it is weak but not forging alliances when they perceive they are strong in a state.Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said the Congress’ “overconfidence” was responsible for its defeat in Haryana, alleging that it relies on allies only in regions where they are weak but ignores them in its stronghold areas.”Wherever the Congress is weak, it takes help from the regional parties. But where it thinks it is strong, the Congress attaches no importance to the regional parties,” Raut said.”We could win in Jammu and Kashmir because the INDIA bloc was fighting there under the leadership of Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah. In Haryana, the INDIA bloc did not fight together because the Congress thought they could win on their own. Hooda ji is our friend, he thought he could win on his own,” he said.He said parties like the Samajwadi Party, Aam Aadmi Party, or even his own party, Shiv Sena (UBT), could have fought a few seats in Haryana and that would have made a difference.The MVA allies should declare a chief ministerial face for the upcoming contest, he added.Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also pointed out that it was a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress and that the Congress needs to introspect over its loss. “The Congress has to introspect. There was a direct contest with the BJP. Where did they all fall short? I am sure they will analyse that,” she said.Chaturvedi said with Haryana polls getting over, the seat-sharing strategy for the upcoming elections in Maharashtra should be done and concluded as soon as possible. “Winning Maharashtra and Jharkhand is as much a responsibility of the Congress as the regional parties in the state,” she added.A senior leader of the TMC who did not want to be named spoke on similar lines, saying the Congress lost again when it was a straight fight with the BJP and the regional parties do much better in defeating the BJP.The TMC is a part of the INDIA bloc but had fought the Lok Sabha polls alone in West Bengal after a deal could not be struck with the Congress, which fought in alliance with the Left parties.The TMC leader said the Congress reached out to the INDIA parties after facing losses in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.Parties like Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar) and JMM must not be treated badly in the upcoming polls, he added.In an apparent jibe at the Congress without naming it, TMC MP Saket Gokhale, in a post on X, said the attitude of not accommodating regional parties in places where they felt they were winning is leading to electoral losses.”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,” the TMC MP said.”Arrogance, entitlement and looking down on regional parties is a recipe for disaster,” he said.National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah also said the Congress will have to introspect deeply to find reasons for its defeat in Haryana, where the BJP is set to return for a third consecutive term. The NC and the Congress fought the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls as allies. “The Congress will have to go deep into it and find the reasons for its defeat,” Abdullah said.
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