A day after the Congress lost the Assembly elections in Haryana, Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana said on Wednesday that it was “overconfidence” that led to the party’s defeat in the state and it should have taken along all its INDIA bloc partners.
“No one thought the BJP government would be elected in Haryana again. It seems Congress’s overconfidence and arrogance of local Congress leaders led to the party’s defeat,” the Marathi paper said in its editorial on Wednesday.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) is part of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in Maharashtra along with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).
The editorial said there was an anti-BJP atmosphere in Haryana and it was widely believed that Congress would register a landslide win. “Ministers and candidates were not allowed to enter villages. Still, the Haryana verdict went against the Congress. Everyone should learn from Congress how to lose a match they were winning,” the editorial said.
The editorial also sounded a warning asking Congress leaders in Maharashtra to learn from the party’s Haryana defeat. “In Haryana, Congress kept its INDIA bloc partners like AAP and others away. In this game, it lost the entire state. In Jammu and Kashmir, INDIA bloc won but in Haryana, Congress was left behind. This picture is not good for the INDIA bloc,” the Saamana editorial said.
The editorial also reflected on the Assembly results in Jammu and Kashmir. “It was declared that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had taken a revolutionary step by abrogating Article 370. The BJP was tom-tomming that entire India had realised its dream by doing away with Article 370. However, the BJP could not end terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, it failed to provide jobs to youths. Importantly, the Modi-Shah combine could not ensure the return of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits. It is clear that doing away with Article 370 has turned out to be a farce and the people of J-K have defeated the BJP. The people of J-K have rejected Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi,” the editorial said.
The editorial also said that the BJP’s win was “suspicious”, referring to allegations that updates from the counting of votes had slowed down. “Till 10.30 am, the results were showing Congress was ahead in 65 seats. The Congress workers were seen distributing sweets. In the next hour, things changed dramatically as BJP led and Congress fell behind. Why did this happen? Why did the counting and its updates suddenly slow down? Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh has questioned the integrity of the democratic process… BJP’s victory in Haryana is therefore suspicious,” the paper said.
The editorial also said that voters in Maharashtra would not follow Haryana. “’They will certainly vote for Maha Vikas Aghadi,” the paper added.
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