Even as the Congress party doubled its seat tally on a whole in Haryana since 2014, the party witnessed an electoral debacle in the twin constituencies of Ambala Cantonment and Ambala City owing to rebels within.
Congress was defeated not only by the BJP, but more significantly and decisively by its own two former leaders—the father-daughter duo of Nirmal Singh and Chitra Sarwara.
Singh, a four-time Congress MLA and former minister, rebelled against the party when it decided to opt for Jasbir Singh Malour, a former INLD MLA, for Ambala City seat. Singh decided to stand as an independent candidate. In Cantt, his daughter Sarwara filed nomination an as independent candidate as well.
“Singh was denied ticket because of factionalism within the party, and he blamed state Congress president Kumari Selja. Their (duo’s) presence as independent candidates was decisive in the outcome, and for Congress in particular,” said a close aide of Singh, who didn’t wish to be named.
Singh, Sarwara and their supporters attacked Congress and its leadership for what they alleged as ‘back stabbing of long-time loyal party workers’. “The party cannot take sincere party workers for granted. A time comes when people have to stand up for justice and principles against a biased leadership,” Sarwara had told HT during campaigning. Singh had also aired similar views.
{{/usCountry}}Singh, Sarwara and their supporters attacked Congress and its leadership for what they alleged as ‘back stabbing of long-time loyal party workers’. “The party cannot take sincere party workers for granted. A time comes when people have to stand up for justice and principles against a biased leadership,” Sarwara had told HT during campaigning. Singh had also aired similar views.
{{/usCountry}}Singh, eating into the Congress support base, got 36.38% of the vote share, with Goel getting 42% votes. In Cantt too, Sarwara secured 36.48% votes, coming in second.
KEY CONG LEADERS SHIFTED LOYALTY
Many key Congress workers supported Singh and Sarwara, including former Congress candidate from City. Congress rivals Shiromani Akali Dal and Indian National Lok Dal also backed them.
Ambala City mayor Ramesh Lal Mal, who left Congress and joined BJP two months before elections, said, “Congress made a major strategic blunder by denying ticket to Nirmal Singh. More than giving BJP an edge, it almost destroyed the party here.”
VOTE SHARE PLUMMETS
In Cantt, where Mahila Congress leader Venu Singla Aggarwal was contesting, the vote share fell from 40% (2014) to 7%. Aggarwal could manage only 8,534 votes of the 1.21 lakh polled. City also witnessed a similar decline. From 21% (2014), the vote share fell to 13%. Malour polled only 20,000 votes out of a total 1.53 lakh.
“The danger signs were visible during the campaigning itself. Party offices were vacant with hardly any election buzz. During door-to-door campaigning, particularly in Cantt, there was little or no public response,” said a senior Congress leader on the condition of anonymity.