Maharashtra: After Haryana, Congress’s performance in Maharashtra assembly elections has also been very poor. India alliance has definitely won in Jharkhand, but the strong leadership of JMM leader Hemant Soren is being considered a major reason for this victory. Congress has also benefited from being an ally of JMM. After Congress got 99 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, it was believed that the party would emerge powerful but after Haryana, the party has faced a crushing defeat in Maharashtra also.
Of the 62 assembly elections held between 2014 and 2024, Congress has faced defeat in 47 elections. Congress is continuously proving weak on the seats where there is direct competition from BJP. After Haryana, the same scene was seen in the assembly elections of Maharashtra also. There was a direct contest between BJP and Congress on 75 seats in Maharashtra and out of these, BJP has won 65 seats. Congress could show its strength only on 10 seats.
There was a big shock in Haryana
Congress, which seemed to be making a comeback after the Lok Sabha elections, has faced two major setbacks within a short period of time. Congress was being seen as the winner in the Haryana assembly elections but BJP turned the tables and gave a huge blow to Congress. In all the exit polls of Haryana, the possibility of Congress forming the government was predicted, but on the day of results the tables were turned.
The noteworthy thing is that BJP succeeded in forming the government for the third consecutive time by defeating Congress. Rahul Gandhi had camped in Haryana for several days. There was a possibility that the impact of inflation, anti-incumbency and farmers’ agitation would be visible against BJP, but the party gave a crushing defeat to Congress with better strategy.
Now Congress’s very poor performance in Maharashtra
In the Maharashtra assembly elections, Congress had entered the electoral arena under the Mahavikas Aghadi alliance. Congress had contested the maximum number of seats under the alliance but its electoral performance has been very poor. Many Congress leaders were considering State President Nana Patole as a contender for the post of Chief Minister, but Nana Patole somehow managed to win by 208 votes. He lagged behind several times during the counting of votes.
The condition of Congress in Maharashtra was so bad that the party could win only 20 seats. The party had high expectations from Marathwada and Vidarbha, but the party has suffered a severe setback in both these areas.
During the Lok Sabha elections, Congress showed its strength in Maharashtra by winning 13 seats. After this performance of Congress, there were a lot of expectations regarding the assembly elections but in the election results, Congress has proved to be very weak.
Defeat in direct contest with BJP
Everyone’s eyes were on the direct contest seats between BJP and Congress in Maharashtra. Both BJP and Congress parties had fielded candidates on the maximum number of seats in their respective alliances. There was a direct contest between BJP and Congress on 75 seats in which Congress proved to be the laggard. In the directly contested seats, BJP captured 65 seats while Congress could win only 10 seats.
While on one hand Congress has proved to be very weak, on the other hand the strength of BJP has increased significantly. In the 2014 assembly elections, BJP won 122 seats in Maharashtra, whereas in the 2019 elections, BJP won 105 seats. Now in the 2024 assembly elections, BJP has proved its hold in Maharashtra by winning 132 seats.
Congress has become weaker than the last election
How weak Congress is becoming in Maharashtra can be understood from the last three assembly elections. In the 2014 assembly elections, Congress had won 42 seats, whereas in the 2019 assembly elections, the number of Congress seats increased to 44. This time Congress had kept the hope of more seats, but this time the condition of Congress has become very weak in the election results and only 15 seats have come in the party’s account. In this way, Congress has not been able to win even half the seats since the last election.
Even veteran leaders are surprised by Congress’s performance
Maharashtra election results have surprised even senior Congress leaders. Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior party leader Rahul Gandhi both say that we did not expect such results in Maharashtra. Now, like every election, this time too the Congress leaders have said that the reasons for the defeat will be analyzed. However, after the continuous defeats, no one is aware till date what steps have been taken by the party leadership after the analysis done so far.
