Congress bought into its own narrative, but it was a lot of hot air

The triumphalism of containing the BJP in the general elections had led the Congress to treat an Assembly victory as a foregone conclusion

- BHAVDEEP KANG

The Congress leadership made the cardinal error of buying into its own manufactured narrative of revival. Post the Lok Sabha polls, the grand old party had managed to spin its improved seatshare into a sign that it had the BJP on the run. Now the boot is on the other foot, and its showing in the first round of Assembly polls is seen as an abject defeat, whereas the BJP achieved its highest-ever tally in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir.

The optics of the Congress defeat in Haryana are far worse than its actual numbers, because it managed a higher tally and voteshare. But the triumphalism of containing the BJP in the general elections had led both Congress 'netas' and 'karyakartas' to treat victory in the Assembly polls as a foregone conclusion. By launching premature celebrations - distributing sweets, bursting firecrackers, hiring horses and wagons for victory parades and raising slogans - the grand old party set itself up for humiliation.

The chest-thumping arrogance of party leaders is wholly to blame for the party's loss of face vis-à-vis its allies and voters across the country. In Haryana, the Congress secured six more seats than it did in 2019 and made a quantum leap in terms of voteshare, from 28% to 39% - just a hair's breadth less than the BJP. But these gains were obscured by the fact that it had projected a sweeping victory in the state as a done deal.