MJ Akbar
LITTLE is more irritating than the mewling of an adult crybaby. The Congress clique now in control of the party has become so inflated with hot air that it has succumbed to indigestion. It cannot digest facts.
Even by the standards of fantasy, its excuse for the drubbing in Haryana is folly bred from preposterous selfdelusion, a unique excursion into silliness. Congress is alleging that many thousands of Government servants working for the Election Commission somehow colluded to rig high-voltage EVM batteries to swing towards the lotus to just that nuanced point where the difference would be enough to give BJP a winning margin.
The lower voltage ones were, apparently, honest. Or maybe it was the other way round. Who cares whether nonsense is stood on its head or its feet? What a curious amalgam of the bizarre and the banal. The next time round Congress will be blaming solar panels or irrigation pumps, unless some leader who has read a book suggests a conspiracy by fundamentalist AI robots sending secret satellite signals from a remote island. It is impossible to believe that sober Congress leaders give credence to such theory. But mature Congress leaders are sitting at home in sepulchral silence.
Results in J&K
Which EVM batteries were to blame for the results in Jammu & Kashmir, where the National Conference swept the polls and Congress was swept away? Congress won only six of the 39 seats it contested; the alliance was saved by the National Conference, which won 42 of 50. The Congress vote in the state slipped to just 12 per cent, which was much lower than its share in the General Election in the summer. Why? Silly batteries or hostile voters?
The big story is the quick defenestration of Congress by its allies. They are disguising their reaction. The Trinamool Congress was pithy: Congress was arrogant, entitled and looked down on regional parties, “a recipe for disaster”. The Uddhav Thackeray Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut pointed out, quite correctly, that if Congress had kept its allies, it could have won. He added, for good measure, that BJP had fought a good election in Haryana. In Jammu & Kashmir, Omar Abdullah reached out to six independent MLAs, making Congress support irrelevant to a majority while asking his ally to find the reasons for its dismal performance within itself.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) told Congress to descend from its high pedestal, which in fact is not very high and wobbly as well. Akhilesh Yadav did not say anything, but his actions spoke. He announced the names of six candidates for by-elections in Uttar Pradesh (UP) without consulting his ally. Even the very faithful RJD in Bihar asked Congress to introspect and accommodate others. Introspect was the word of the day.
Congress arrogance
Congress responded by sending its Haryana leader Bhupinder Hooda plus posse to the Election Commission with a long face and a tall tale. Not a single ally believed the batteries story because they had not lost their mind. No one in the I.N.D.I.A. bloc likes the genetic arrogance of Congress, although they may have to live with it for political advancement. If they feel that Congress has become a drag on electoral prospects, they will push back, as they are doing now.
The message to Congress from Bengal, Bihar, UP, Maharashtra and Kashmir is simple: stick to your small or limited corner, and keep your elbows in check. Haryana has punctured Congress expectations of a higher seat share in the next round of elections. AAP, which wanted just 10 seats out of 90 in Haryana, has already announced that it will go it alone in Delhi, so we now know which party will come third.
