The results of the by elections have again stirred the Congress party. There is a lot of turmoil after the crushing defeat of Congress in the byelections of seven assembly seats in Rajasthan. Congress has begun analysing the reasons for its defeat, with the main factors believed to be reliance on MPs for ticket distribution and the decision not to contest the elections in alliance. A report detailing the reasons for the loss is being prepared at the party level and will be sent to the high command. Additionally, it is being suggested that Congress underestimated this election following their victory in the Lok Sabha elections.
A report is being prepared at the party level on the defeat in Rajasthan byelections, which will be sent to the high command. It is also being said that after the victory in the Lok Sabha elections, Congress took this election lightly.
Congress leaders say that in the first meeting held to discuss the names for ticket distribution, Rajasthan Congress in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had stressed that Congress has performed well in the Lok Sabha elections.
The leaders who have become MPs from MLAs have played a big role. Therefore, ticket distribution should be left to the MPs only. This was the reason that the meeting held in Jaipur for ticket distribution proved to be a mere formality.
During a meeting held by Sachin Pilot at Haryana Bhawan in Delhi, it was revealed that the in-charge showed little interest in gathering feedback regarding ticket distribution.
Despite this, Congress decided to give tickets to Amit Ola, son of MP Brijendra Ola for Jhunjhunu, K.C. Meena, recommended by MP Harish Meena for Deoli-Uniara, and D.C.
Bairwa, backed by Murali Lal Meena for Dausa. For the Ramgarh seat, which was vacated after the death of Zubair Khan, his son Aryan Khan was considered due to the sympathy factor. Out of the seven contested seats, Congress managed to win only Dausa, and that too by a narrow margin.
Congress faced a significant defeat due to MP recommendations, nepotism, and neglecting local workers.
The party’s failure to address the concerns of disgruntled leaders, compounded by the inactivity of the Congress think tank, led to a lack of serious efforts to resolve internal issues. In addition to the four contested seats, Congress also nominated Dr Ratan, wife of Sawai Singh, who switched from BJP, solely to challenge Hanuman Beniwal on the Khinvsar seat. The outcome of this seat is well-known.
Congress had little expectation from the Chaurasi and Salumbar seats, so the results did not come as a surprise.