The Congress party inflicts more damage to itself and its allies than its opponents. It happens due to the Congress party’s self-imposed supreme policy. This happens in multiple states and at the national level.
In the ongoing Assembly election in the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir, the high-handedness of the Congress party is negatively impacting its allies, the National Conference and others.
The Congress party continuously loses its mass base in most States, including the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. The Congress party has failed to open its account in the last three Lok Sabha elections from Jammu and Kashmir. In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the State of Jammu and Kashmir had 6 Lok Sabha seats; in 2024, the UT of Jammu and Kashmir had five seats. In State Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress paparty’seat tally had reduced significantly. The Congress party had established a lead on 16 Assembly seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, which reduced to only 7 ACs in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. In the ensuing Assembly election within the Alliance, the Congress paparty’seat share would be hardly on 15 and a maximum of up to 20 seats.
The Congress party should adopt policy of giving space to its allies in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir to check its opponents. But the Congress party is contesting nearly 40 per cent of seats in the UT despite its Alliance with the National Conference. Despite the Alliance of five seats, the Congress party and the NC are contesting against each other. The long-term objective of the Congress party is not to allow its allies to grow. If the NC were given more seats, the Congress party opponents would be more uncomfortable in the election. Still, the NC cannot contest to its full potential due to the Congress’s policy. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the NC established a lead on 36 ACs; in 2019, the number of ACs on which the NC established a lead was 30.
Despite the unfortunate performance of the Congress party compared to the NC, the seat distribution among the parties of I.N.D.I Alliance is unevenly distributed. The Alliance will concede loss due to such seat distribution.
A case in point is in Bihar in the 2020 Assembly election. The Congress party contested 70 ACs and won only 19 seats. The Congress party demonstrated its spoiling potential to the Rashtriya Janata Dal of the 2009 Lok Sabha election besides that of the 2010 Bihar Assembly election. It garnered seats much more than its strength. The opponents easily won 51 seats due to the candidature of the Congress party. Even on multiple occasions, the sympathisers of the Congress party acknowledge that if the Congress party would contest on 30 seats as per its strength, then the I.N.D.I Alliance would win and rule the State.
