The BJP has achieved in Haryana what seemed impossible until a week ago. In the months leading up to the Haryana Assembly elections, the party was battling strong opposition to the incumbent party after 10 years in power. The same was reflected in the Lok Sabha election results as the BJP managed to win only five of the 10 seats in the state.

Then came the October 5 election polls, which predicted a clear victory for the Congress. At this point, it was the Congressional election that he would lose.

And it did.

On Tuesday, the day of counting, early trends showed that the Congress had crossed the halfway mark, triggering a wave of celebrations at party offices in Delhi and Chandigarh. However, the celebrations soon gave way to an uncomfortable silence as the BJP gained a decisive lead.

The trends come as a shock to Haryana Congress chief Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who led the party’s leadership. The two-time chief minister was so confident of a Congress victory that he reportedly decided to contest the polls alone and played down the possibility of an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Hooda’s tactics drew parallels with another veteran Congress leader, Kamal Nath, who also failed to deliver for the party in Madhya Pradesh even as the BJP faced a 15-year anti-incumbency run.

How Kamal Nath squandered the Congress’s chances in Parliament

Ahead of the November 2023 elections, the Congress appeared to be on track to win in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP and then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan were fighting for a 15-year term. The party even showed little faith in Chouhan, who took the responsibility of the election campaign on his shoulders.

Kamal Nath, 77, then Madhya Pradesh Congress chief, had complete control over the state unit of the Congress and was given almost a free hand by the Congress high command. The party showed confidence in him even though he failed to save his government due to a rebellion by Jyotiraditya Scinida.

Kamal Nath also had the final say on ticket distribution, which angered senior leader Digvijaya Singh. Both leaders even argued about tearing each other’s clothes while allocating seats.

The Congress had all the signs in its favour. From anti-incumbency politics to issues like alleged crime against minorities, corruption, unemployment, farmers’ woes and others, the Congress had everything it needed to corner the BJP.

Kamal Nath was so confident of a victory that he did not want to give away a few seats to the Samajwadi Party, the Congress’ INDIA bloc ally, forcing Akhilesh Yadav to accuse the Grand Old Party of “treason”.

Nevertheless, it is The Congress lost the election in Madhya Pradesh to the BJP, which won 163 of the 230 parliamentary seats in the state. The Congress won 66 seats and came a distant second.

Kamal Nath was clearly blamed for the loss and he in turn was shown the door by the Congress. The party replaced him with Jitu Patwari, 50, as the new unit chief in Madhya Pradesh.

HOW BHUPINDER HOODA HIKED THE KAMAL NATH TRAIL

The story of Bhupinder Singh Hooda is similar.

Hooda, 77, was chief minister of Haryana for ten years until the BJP stormed to power in the state on the Modi wave in 2014.

Hooda was in charge of the Congress campaign although he did not work for the party in 2019. This time, his son Deepender Hooda took a more central role, although Hooda senior was the one who answered the calls for ticket distribution.

According to a report in the Indian Express, at least 70 out of 90 Congress candidates were from the Hooda camp. Showing full faith in the veteran leader, the party high command ignored the candidate lists of Kumari Selja and Randeep Singh Surjewala, who had announced themselves as chief ministerial candidates.

The report also alleged that Hooda played a central role in the Congress’s failed alliance negotiations with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), its bloc ally in India. Congress was confident that the Consolidation of Jat votesHooda’s vote bank, would be enough to come back to power in Haryana.

Like Kamal Nath, Hooda struggled to corner the BJP. Besides anti-incumbency, issues like farmers’ protests, wrestling protests, unemployment and the Agnipath program gave the Congress an opportunity to undermine the BJP’s defenses.

The election was handed to Hooda on a platter and election experts described the October 8 results as a formality.

However, Haryana witnessed a repeat of Madhya Pradesh and the BJP managed to secure a surprise victory despite certain defeat.

Both Madhya Pradesh and Haryana highlight the inability of the Congress to make a smooth transition from old guard to young Turks within its ranks. Despite repeated failures, Kamal Nath and Bhupinder Hooda were appointed by the party to manage the elections, costing them two states where victory seemed assured.

The Congress made a course correction in Madhya Pradesh by replacing Kamal Nath with a young Jitu Patwari. It remains to be seen whether the party follows the same path in Haryana.