Cong rebels cost party over 15 seats

Internal dissent and rebellion within Congress cost the party dear in the Haryana Assembly elections, where disgruntled leaders who were denied tickets played a spoiler's role, leading to defeat on more than 15 key seats.

- NEERAJ MOHAN

According to election data and internal assessments, Congress managed to secure 37 seats, falling short of the 46-seat majority mark, as rebel candidates siphoned crucial votes-putting a question mark over the ground surveys being conducted by the party to find out best candidates.

A study on party's performance revealed that the Congress lost significant ground in constituencies such as Pundri, Rai, Gohana, Safidon, Dadri, Tigaon, Ambala Cantt, Assandh, Uchana Kalan, Badhra, Mahendergarh, Sohna, Dabwali, and Bahadurgarh, all due to vote splits caused by disgruntled leaders. In many instances, the rebels secured between 10,000 and 40,000 votes, surpassing the margin by which the Congress candidates were defeated and even remained at the second position pushing the party candidates at third or fourth position.

In Bahadurgarh, for example, Congress rebel Rajesh Joon won as an Independent with a staggering margin of 41,999 votes, while the official Congress candidate, Rajinder Joon, finished a distant third with just 28,955 votes. Similarly, in Ambala Cantt, Congress rebel Chitra Sarwara garnered 52,581 votes, finishing second behind BJP's Anil Vij, who secured 59,858 votes. Congress's official candidate, Parvinder Pari, was left far behind with only 14,469 votes.