The meeting called by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was attended by party MP Rahul Gandhi, MLA Bhupinder Singh Hooda and observers of the party like Ashok Gehlot, Ajay Maken and Pratap Singh Bajwa.
The participants at the Congress meeting to review its loss in Haryana has given an inkling into what lies ahead. The meeting called by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was attended by party MP Rahul Gandhi, MLA Bhupinder Singh Hooda and observers of the party like Ashok Gehlot, Ajay Maken and Pratap Singh Bajwa. But the two names who should have been there, and who are also stakeholders – Randeep Singh Surjewala and Kumari Selja – were not invited .
According to sources, the agenda of the meeting was the main reason for the Haryana loss. Leaders were asked to give an account of what went wrong, EVMs were also discussed in the meeting, sources said, adding whether infighting was the main reason for loss was also discussed. The leaders also discussed the damage caused by rebel factor and also the failure to form an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). According to sources, all the points of discussion from Haryana’s review meeting will be used to discuss the next steps for the forthcoming Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly polls. Sources said that seat sharing talks will also be part of the meeting as the Congress top leadership has been perturbed by allies’ statements warning the party against arrogance.
The meeting was called to learn a lesson from the loss, but that looks unlikely with the absence of the main stakeholders.
Randeep Singh Surjewala had restricted himself to campaigning for his son Aditya Surjewala, who has won from Kaithal. Surjewala stayed away from both campaigning and manifesto release in the state. Sources close to him say that he felt that he was not needed and the Hoodas dictated who would matter and what role they would play. Not just this, most of the names suggested by him for candidates were neither accepted nor given tickets.
Kumari Shelja, meanwhile, has been vocal about her resentment of the way the Hoodas dominated the show. Had she gotten to be at the review meeting, she would not have minced words to make the point that the Hooda heavy campaign and too much stress on Jats had ended up alienating the others, which the BJP took advantage of.
A top source in Haryana Congress said, “It’s clear the verdict is against the Hoodas. There was this perception that after the father, the son would take over. Rahul Gandhi brushing shoulders with Deepender Hooda reinforced this perception.”
