NEW DELHI: Still smarting from the shock defeat in Haryana, the near-wipeout in Maharashtra proved to be yet another punch for the Congress, which is struggling to keep afloat as a national force. While the resounding victory of the MahaYuti reinforced the BJP’s dominance in the political landscape, the Congress again failed to lead a united fight against the saffron force.Though Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the party would analyse the “unexpected” Maharashtra results in detail, questions are being raised about its failure to adopt a coherent strategy and narrative. Observers attribute the disappointing performance of the party to Gandhi’s focus on caste census and caste-based reservation, which failed to resonate with the electorates in Haryana and J&K. In Maharashtra and Jharkhand, the Congress was on a sticky wicket during seat talks with allies after losing Haryana to the BJP for the third straight time.Observers say that losing a big state like Maharashtra after Haryana is likely to weaken the party’s bargaining power in an era of coalition politics.While the INDIA bloc registered an impressive victory in Jharkhand, the credit mostly went to Hemant Soren-led JMM which ran a spirited campaign. It will only add to the criticism that the grand old party plays second fiddle to strong regional players and it fails to grow in states where it faces the BJP. With the poor show in Maharashtra, the Congress strength in the Lok Sabha got reduced to 98 seats after it lost Nanded in the bypoll. With the defeat, the MVA stood to lose Rajya Sabha seats from the state.
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