Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The bypoll results may have been a face saver for the Congress but the party was not even in runner-up position in seats with multi-corner contest in West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and other northeast states, reflecting its weakening hold in states with strong regional players and need for a united front to defeat the BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha election.
The opposition parties are of the view that if they join hands in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress should contest against the saffron party on seats where it is in direct fight and let the regional players contest more seats in states where they have a bigger base.
The Trinamool Congress that swept the by-election in West Bengal was quick to offer an olive branch to the grand old party after leaders from both parties were engaged in a war of words after the TMC said that it couldn’t rely on the Congress for 2024 battle against the BJP.
The Congress has questioned the TMC’s intention to contest upcoming Goa Assembly elections.
“The mindset has to change — We are equal partners in the opposition. Let’s work together on this, rather than talk down to us. There is no need to fight. Our single goal is to defeat the BJP,” said TMC leader Derek O’Brien.
A senior Congress leader said West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee knows that a united front is not possible without the Congress as the latter is in direct fight with the BJP on 200-230 Lok Sabha seats.
The slow progress to make a united front is bothering several opposition leaders and this was also pointed out by the TMC when it said that it had waited for months to get a response from the Congress to work on a united front and later decided to expand its footprints in other states.
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“There is no progress so far in formation of a united opposition front but for a few meetings that happened during the parliament session. We need to plan things at the earliest to take on the BJP, else things will be out of control and 2024 would also slip out of our hands,” said an opposition leader, citing Bihar bypoll results where JD (U) won on both seats.
He said the results could have been different if the RJD and Congress had put up a joint candidate.
Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora on Wednesday said there is an urgent need for the Congress to do a serious and meaningful introspection in the wake of party’s “devastating defeat” in the assembly bypolls in Assam.
Bora also said he has information that a large number of Congress leaders in Assam were contemplating to leave the party and to join the BJP or the TMC.
“It has become very urgent for the Congress to carry out a serious and meaningful introspection of the results of the by-elections in Assam,” he told reporters here.
In the assembly by-polls held in five constituencies in Assam, the Congress failed to win even a single seat while the BJP won in three and the remaining two were won by the saffron party’s ally UPPL.
Among the three seats the BJP won, two were held by Congress leaders — Sushanta Borgohain and Rupjyoti Kurmi — who had deserted the party and joined the BJP.
Both were nominated by the BJP and won the by-elections.
Bora said the analysis of the results of the by-elections showed that it is “very surprising and devastating defeat” for the Congress party.
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The MP said the results of the bypolls generally goes in favour of the ruling party and this happened in the by-polls held in six assembly seats in 2016, 2017 and 2019 during his tenure as President of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee.
During that time, however, the Congress had been able to increase the vote in the by-elections compared to the previous general elections, he said.
Even in the bypolls to the Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat held in 2016, the Congress could increase the votes in comparison to the 2014 general elections.
“The result of this by-elections has seriously demoralised the rank and file of the party. Such huge decrease of the Congress votes within the gap of six months is very unfortunate,” he said.
The MP also said that in two assembly constituencies — Thowra and Mariani — there is no record of such “dismal performance” by the Congress in the electoral history of the party in Assam.
(With PTI Inputs)
