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The bypoll results on Monday have come as major jolt for both scam-tainted Congress and Manmohan Singh Government, which are buffeted by multi-pronged attacks from the Opposition and civil society on price rise and corruption and torn apart by squabbling from within.
The loss of deposit and face in Hisar in Haryana and Daraunda in Bihar by the Congress candidates, humiliating defeat at Banswada in Andhra Pradesh, and major setback in Khadakwasla in Maharashtra are indicative of all-pervasive anti-UPA mood across the country.
The miserable condition of the Congress in the three by-elections and the NCP losing the script because of its association with the Congress in Maharashtra could also be a wake up call for many of the UPA allies.
The Congress may be in denial that Anna Hazare factor did not play any role in Hisar where its candidate Jai Parkash lost his deposit and polled just 14,90,000 votes, around 55,000 votes less than 2009 polls. But the fact that both Haryana Janhit Congress chief Kuldeep Bishnoi, who was supported by BJP, and INLD’s Ajay Chautala polled 3,55,000 and 3,49,000 votes respectively show how far the Congress lagged in the race.
Incidentally, Congress’ vote share went down compared to the 2009 polls whereas the vote share of both INDL and NDA went up. It clearly shows that Anna factor played a key role in Hisar. And that is a case of serious worry for the Congress.
At the same time, the nature of Hisar contest made it clear from the day one that the Congress would have come third with or without Anna. To that extent it would be naive to credit Bishnoi’s victory to Anna Hazare and his team. But the message that will resonate across the country from Hisar is that Anna’s attempt to tar Congress with the brush of corruption has proved effective. Having tasted blood, Anna could play the spoiler for the Congress in the next year’s Assembly election at Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Gujarat.
This was reflected in Anna’s renewing his threat to inflict further damage against the Congress. Hazare said the party should take cue from the result and ensure passage of Jan Lokpal Bill in Winter Session of Parliament or else he would personally campaign against it in upcoming Assembly elections.
“If the Congress still has not learnt a lesson from these polls then the condition would worsen further hence Congress should take a cue and pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Winter Session,” he said in his latest blog posting.
“Hisar saw Team Anna’s workers campaigning for the anti-corruption cause but next, for the Assembly elections, it will be me, Anna Hazare, who will personally rally for the cause. I feel it is necessary for the well-being of the society and the nation at large,” he said.
With Team Anna committed to oppose the Congress tooth and nail, and the effectiveness of its anti-Congress appeal proven, the Congress may not have any other option but to engage Anna in serious discussions. Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh may have taken upon himself to fire a daily salvo at Hazare, but the conciliatory letter of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Gandhian and reports that Rahul Gandhi tried to reach out to Hazare is pointer to the realisation within the Congress that it cannot get away by giving the Ramdev treatment to the Gandhian.
It is significant that Manmohan Singh and Law Minister Salman Khurshid have made positive noises on Anna’s demand for ‘Right to reject’. The days ahead could force the Congress to adopt a more persuasive stand on dealing with Anna and the Digvijay line may have to be given up for the sake of electoral prudence.
The Bihar verdict is also a big lesson for the Congress. The party polled just about 4,300 votes in a contest won by JD(U) candidate Kavita Singh, who defeated her nearest RJD candidate Parmeshwar Singh by 20,092 votes. While Kavita polled 51,754 votes against 31,662 votes secured by the RJD candidate, Congress candidate Kalika Sharan Singh and the CPI(M-L) nominee Jainath Yadav stood a distant third and fourth polling 4,238 and 3,754 votes respectively. The result shows that the Congress remained in decline in Bihar and there was no chance of its revival in the near future.
The Congress defeat at Banswada is also significant. Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) candidate Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy won the bypoll from this Assembly constituency in Nizamabad district of Telangana region. Reddy defeated ruling Congress’ Srinivas Goud by a margin of 49,889 votes. Of the 1,22,872 votes polled, Pocharam secured 83,245, while Goud got 33,356.
The results bode ill for the Congress in the region, which has been in turmoil for over three weeks over demand for Telangana. With Jagmohan Reddy emerging a key player in Andhra politics and Kiran Reddy hardly in control of things in the State, Andhra could easily slip out of the Congress hand. This could be a body blow to the Congress which had won 33 out of 42 seats in 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
The message from Maharashtra, home State of Anna Hazare, is also worrying for the Congress. The Congress-NCP combine suffered a major embarrassment by losing the Khadakwasla Assembly seat to BJP’s Bhimrao Tapkir.
The result could see clamour growing for Congress to push Rahul Gandhi to centre stage, and deepen the divide within the Government and the party, both heading downhill like vehicles with failed breaks.
The loss of deposit and face in Hisar in Haryana and Daraunda in Bihar by the Congress candidates, humiliating defeat at Banswada in Andhra Pradesh, and major setback in Khadakwasla in Maharashtra are indicative of all-pervasive anti-UPA mood across the country.
The miserable condition of the Congress in the three by-elections and the NCP losing the script because of its association with the Congress in Maharashtra could also be a wake up call for many of the UPA allies.
The Congress may be in denial that Anna Hazare factor did not play any role in Hisar where its candidate Jai Parkash lost his deposit and polled just 14,90,000 votes, around 55,000 votes less than 2009 polls. But the fact that both Haryana Janhit Congress chief Kuldeep Bishnoi, who was supported by BJP, and INLD’s Ajay Chautala polled 3,55,000 and 3,49,000 votes respectively show how far the Congress lagged in the race.
Incidentally, Congress’ vote share went down compared to the 2009 polls whereas the vote share of both INDL and NDA went up. It clearly shows that Anna factor played a key role in Hisar. And that is a case of serious worry for the Congress.
At the same time, the nature of Hisar contest made it clear from the day one that the Congress would have come third with or without Anna. To that extent it would be naive to credit Bishnoi’s victory to Anna Hazare and his team. But the message that will resonate across the country from Hisar is that Anna’s attempt to tar Congress with the brush of corruption has proved effective. Having tasted blood, Anna could play the spoiler for the Congress in the next year’s Assembly election at Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Gujarat.
This was reflected in Anna’s renewing his threat to inflict further damage against the Congress. Hazare said the party should take cue from the result and ensure passage of Jan Lokpal Bill in Winter Session of Parliament or else he would personally campaign against it in upcoming Assembly elections.
“If the Congress still has not learnt a lesson from these polls then the condition would worsen further hence Congress should take a cue and pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Winter Session,” he said in his latest blog posting.
“Hisar saw Team Anna’s workers campaigning for the anti-corruption cause but next, for the Assembly elections, it will be me, Anna Hazare, who will personally rally for the cause. I feel it is necessary for the well-being of the society and the nation at large,” he said.
With Team Anna committed to oppose the Congress tooth and nail, and the effectiveness of its anti-Congress appeal proven, the Congress may not have any other option but to engage Anna in serious discussions. Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh may have taken upon himself to fire a daily salvo at Hazare, but the conciliatory letter of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Gandhian and reports that Rahul Gandhi tried to reach out to Hazare is pointer to the realisation within the Congress that it cannot get away by giving the Ramdev treatment to the Gandhian.
It is significant that Manmohan Singh and Law Minister Salman Khurshid have made positive noises on Anna’s demand for ‘Right to reject’. The days ahead could force the Congress to adopt a more persuasive stand on dealing with Anna and the Digvijay line may have to be given up for the sake of electoral prudence.
The Bihar verdict is also a big lesson for the Congress. The party polled just about 4,300 votes in a contest won by JD(U) candidate Kavita Singh, who defeated her nearest RJD candidate Parmeshwar Singh by 20,092 votes. While Kavita polled 51,754 votes against 31,662 votes secured by the RJD candidate, Congress candidate Kalika Sharan Singh and the CPI(M-L) nominee Jainath Yadav stood a distant third and fourth polling 4,238 and 3,754 votes respectively. The result shows that the Congress remained in decline in Bihar and there was no chance of its revival in the near future.
The Congress defeat at Banswada is also significant. Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) candidate Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy won the bypoll from this Assembly constituency in Nizamabad district of Telangana region. Reddy defeated ruling Congress’ Srinivas Goud by a margin of 49,889 votes. Of the 1,22,872 votes polled, Pocharam secured 83,245, while Goud got 33,356.
The results bode ill for the Congress in the region, which has been in turmoil for over three weeks over demand for Telangana. With Jagmohan Reddy emerging a key player in Andhra politics and Kiran Reddy hardly in control of things in the State, Andhra could easily slip out of the Congress hand. This could be a body blow to the Congress which had won 33 out of 42 seats in 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
The message from Maharashtra, home State of Anna Hazare, is also worrying for the Congress. The Congress-NCP combine suffered a major embarrassment by losing the Khadakwasla Assembly seat to BJP’s Bhimrao Tapkir.
The result could see clamour growing for Congress to push Rahul Gandhi to centre stage, and deepen the divide within the Government and the party, both heading downhill like vehicles with failed breaks.
