National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah on December 5 said he attributed the recent electoral losses in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh to the shortcomings of the Congress party rather than a failure of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 118th birth anniversary of the party founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah in Srinagar, Mr. Abdullah minced no words to criticise the Congress for failing to take alliance partners along in these polls.
“The INDIA alliance itself did not face defeat in these elections. We saw Samajwadi Party (SP), the Aam Aadmi Party etc. contesting in these polls. BJP’s success in three states should be attributed more to the shortcomings of the Congress party rather than a failure of the INDIA alliance,” Mr. Abdullah said. “The State elections were not fought by the alliance so “it’s to some extent the failure of the Congress party at individual level,” he added.
Mr. Abdullah’s NC, one of the major political parties in J&K, is also part of the INDIA bloc. Mr. Abdullah said there was a need to hold dialogue over the recent elections. “Certain statements had surfaced, warranting discussion and resolution,” Mr. Abdullah said.
The former J&K chief minister, while referring to the defeat faced by the Congress in the three States, said, “They [the Congress] need to analyse the reasons because some people saw the writing on the wall earlier.”
He said elections are like that, you win some and you lose some. “You can’t only be satisfied with the elections that you win. You must also be ready to accept defeat,” he added.
Mr. Abdullah also took potshots at the BJP. “When BJP loses in State elections, they say it is not General Elections but only Assembly Elections and they won’t have any impact on Lok Sabha elections. But when they win, they call it the success of PM Modi and the Central Government,” he said.
He said five years back, Congress won Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh but when Parliament elections were held, it lost in all three. “We will have to watch if the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will be on the pattern of these three States. We can’t say anything,” he said.
Mr. Abdullah is meeting the INDIA alliance leaders who are likely to assemble at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s residence in New Delhi on December 6.
