NEW DELHI: For the Congress, 2024 started on a good note as it won 99 seats in the Lok Sabha poll, and the opposition INDIA bloc managed to secure 240 seats. Unlike the last two General Elections when the BJP got a clear mandate, this time the saffron party was restricted to 240 seats and was unable to form the government on its own.
Rahul Gandhi was also elected as the Leader of Opposition in the lower House of Parliament. However, since then the Congress party has also seen some major setbacks.
The grand old party was certain of poll victory in the Haryana Assembly elections. However, the BJP returned to power for the third consecutive term, handing out a comprehensive defeat to the Congress.
The Congress is still clueless about what hit it in Haryana. The Jats, who constitute the dominant section of the state’s electorate, were backing the Congress and this should have ensured the Congress victory in the Assembly poll. However, when the BJP managed a surprise victory, political pundits attributed it to “micromanagement”.
A frustrated Congress has accused the BJP of rigging electronic voting machines (EVMs) to retain power in Haryana. But this charge has not found many takers, especially because the Congress and its allies have also recorded electoral victories in the past year.
For instance in J&K, where the Assembly elections were held around, the opposition bloc, consisting of the National Conference, Congress and CPIM, won 49 of the 90 seats; and Omar Abdullah became the Chief Minister of the state.
The Assembly elections were also held in Jharkhand. Here too, the opposition coalition won 56 seats, with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) emerging as the biggest party with 34 seats.
Maharashtra voted for its 288-member Assembly on November 20. The ruling Mahayuti bloc registered a landslide victory with 235 seats – the BJP won 132, Shiv Sena got 57 and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party secured 41 seats.
Just like Haryana, in Maharashtra too, the Congress was considered a hot favourite until the results were announced. Once again, the Congress cried foul and accused the BJP of rigging.
In fact, 2024 is going to be remembered for the Congress party’s recurrent conflict with the Election Commission of India (ECI) on the issue of EVMs.
In the resolution passed in the Congress Working Committee meeting held in Belagavi in Karnataka on December 26, the Congress mentioned the “conduct of polls” in Haryana and Maharashtra “eroded the integrity of the electoral process”. However, it refrained from reiterating the demand for reverting to the system of paper ballot in the resolution.