The battle of elections in 5 states was considered as a threshold for the Congress party which could have reinstated it as a principal opposition party and quelled the other regional parties pushing for a third front. But the magic did not happen and Congress was left unfed, losing all the states including Punjab which was considered by its leaders, a fortress. The shock the party faced in Punjab where it was expecting a majority has now disarrayed its popular leaders. The party could not even save its top faces. Navjot Singh Sidhu was downplayed by voters and lost by 6750 votes, while Channi had to face a double whammy, as he couldn’t save himself even on one seat of Bhadaur and Chamkaur.
The grand old party even after bringing its popular face, Channi to lead the party could not save itself from anti-incumbency which the party had presumed was defeated by Channi. To add more injury to their gloom, the Congress party lost deposits in 32 of 117 seats in Punjab.
Experts had already speculated that the infighting within the party would lead voters to confusion, who would eventually vote for the emerging AAP. The same happened.
To be clearer, Congress could not uphold its face and felt into unresolved and continuous bickering within its cadre. The party leaders also showed a lack of political acumen by publicly venting anger for each other. As it was evident, there was no “one leader” who could have realised its predominant pursuit. The importance was given to the position than to the party, which resulted in a loss of both— neither the party could win the elections nor could its top leaders protect their berth.
Congress LS MP, Jasbir Singh Gill tweeted: “Harish Chowdhary and Ajay Maken have to give a lot of explanation for rout of Congress in Punjab. 3 months before Punjab was sure win but after entry of these two in Punjab for ticket distribution have ruined party in state. They pocketed notes, Opposition pocketed votes.”