CONGRESS NEEDS TO MULL OVER DEFEAT IN ELLENABAD BYPOLL

CHANDIGARH: Indian National Lok Dal succeeded (INLD) in winning Ellenabad by-poll as it was being expected continuously. Contrary to everyone’s expectations, two things emerged in the scenario that surprised all of us.

First one is the huge defeat of the main opposite party Congress while another aspect is the second largest vote share gained by the Govind Kanda hailing from ruling faction BJP-JJP. This debacle in the battle has forced the Congress to mull over itself despite the canvassing at a large scale by the party stalwarts in the constituency, the party contestant Pawan Beniwal failed to save fixed deposit which indicates the declining status of the party in the state.

Moreover, what is of utmost importance here to state is ongoing discussions regarding the feud among the senior party leaders in the state. Political experts continue to say that widened rift among the state party senior leaders, particularity Kumari Seleja and Bhupender Singh Hooda, the leader of opposition led to the defeat of the party in by-poll. Everyone is familiar with the fact that Pawan Beniwal belongs to the Seleja faction and he was made to join the Congress by the Seleja herself.

Even prior to the declaration of results, Seleja said on November 1 that she received several complaints against some party leaders along with workers for not supporting the party candidate properly and she will conduct an enquiry regarding the same.

Although, most of the legislators belonging to Hooda factions were involved in the election campaigning for the party contestant. But what continuously emerged is that Hooda maintained a distance from the canvassing to some extent as he addressed a few public meetings and rallies in support of the party candidate which led to indicate the ongoing rift between him and Seleja.

It is pertinent to mention that Seleja has been elected MP from Sirsa segment several times and Ellenabad constituency falls in Sirsa. Thus, the debacle in the bypoll is not less than a setback for her. Thus, Being the main opposition party in the state, the Congress failed to fulfill the expectations providing an opportunity to the leaders of the BJP. The BJP stalwarts continue to take a dig at the Congress saying that the defeat in the bypolls showcased the infighting in the Congress.