‘Saboteurs’ saved face for Congress

Fourteen Congress votes, which were declared “invalid” in the recently held Rajya Sabha elections from Haryana, saved the party from becoming a junior partner of the INLD in the state and giving the BJP a way into the non-Jat vote bank.

Although the current mood in the AICC is to back these 14 party legislators despite the sabotage, the real issue is who convinced Congress chief Ms Sonia Gandhi to back independent candidate Mr R.K. Anand, who fought the polls on INLD backing.

Pushing the Congress towards the INLD would mean losing its support base among the Jats in the state on one hand and helping the BJP get the support of non Jats on the other. The INLD has been the main opponent of the Congress in Haryana. The Chautala-led party had even allied with the BJP several times and shared power with it in the state and at the Centre as well.

If the Congress wanted to check the BJP in the Haryana Rajya Sabha elections, it should have fielded its own candidate and compelled the INLD to back him or her if it was really opposed to the saffron party.

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda convinced the 14 MLAs that this was a trap laid by the INLD and they should not fall for it in their own interest. Though a section of the party is describing the act of the 14 MLAs as an undeclared rebellion against the Congress high command, in reality it has helped the party to protect its political space in the state. The Congress’ official line now is to blame the BJP government in Haryana for “misusing” its machinery in the RS polls. The party has already approached the Election Commission regarding the same.

Mr Hooda had been in power for 10 years with the support of Jats and non Jats. The Congress had earlier checked the INLD by attracting non Jats under the leadership of Bhajan Lal.