Congress Alert in Maharashtra After Defeat in Haryana: Preparing Strategy for Assembly Election

Maharashtra Assembly Elections: After the defeat in Haryana, Congress is now preparing for the Maharashtra assembly elections. Read Shadab Ahmed’s special report on how the party is gearing up for the elections…

After the defeat in Haryana, Congress is now preparing for the Maharashtra assembly elections. The party is introspecting and believes that strategic mistakes led to the loss of power in Haryana. Therefore, the party is now focusing on its core supporters, small caste groups, and regional parties in Maharashtra to avoid a similar mistake. The leaders have been advised to be cautious in their statements and speeches.

Small Caste Groups and Regional Parties

After the success in the Lok Sabha elections, the atmosphere was favorable, but the number of seats did not increase. In Haryana, the party focused on winning over the Jat community, but in the process, it ignored other caste groups, and regional parties took advantage of this. Maharashtra is a big state with 288 assembly seats, and the caste equations are different in each region. Keeping this in mind, the party has started assessing the situation of regional parties like the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in Maharashtra.

Strategic Mistakes Behind the Scenes

Although the Congress is openly blaming the EVMs for the defeat in Haryana, it is also acknowledging the strategic mistakes that led to the defeat. A senior party leader accepted that the party’s strategy had flaws. The infighting among leaders was one issue, but the party failed to focus on small caste groups and independent candidates. The ‘India’ alliance with the Samajwadi Party and the Aam Aadmi Party was also not taken seriously. Deepender Hooda’s statement about the Samajwadi Party’s base in Yadav-dominated areas also harmed the party’s prospects. Therefore, the high command has advised all national and local leaders to be cautious while making statements or expressing their opinions on any issue in Maharashtra.