In Haryana, the BJP has coursed to a historic third consecutive win in a state that is not a traditional bastion.
THE ASSEMBLY polls in Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana took place together, but their outcomes are momentous in different ways. In J&K, there is a need to pause at the election itself before taking stock of the result. After all, this contest came after a decade of electionlessness in the erstwhile state and five years after it was stripped of its special status by the abrogation of Article 370 and split into two Union Territories. The Supreme Court laid down a deadline, the Centre respected it and the Election Commission stepped up to the challenge of holding an election, despite the surge of violence in the Jammu region. Now the National Conference’s remarkable achievement — it has held together through great adversity and in alliance with the Congress, crossed the halfway mark — must take second place to the trust reposed in the power of the vote by the J&K electorate. Commendably, and in a constitutional democracy, hearteningly, the people of J&K have cast aside narratives of alienation and boycott politics and embraced a new consensus on political participation and electoral engagement.
In Haryana, the BJP has coursed to a historic third consecutive win in a state that is not a traditional bastion. Its victory, only months after the unambiguous setback in the Lok Sabha verdict in June, speaks of the party’s ability to get back on its feet again and go for the win. For students of Indian politics, it is a cautionary tale — this country’s politics retains its ability to spring a surprise. But it seems that the story of the Haryana election is not yet over even after the votes have been counted — and therein lies a second cautionary tale.
THE CONGRESS party has taken a step that is as unprecedented as it is bizarre. It has become the first mainstream party to question an election result in an electoral system deservedly applauded for its streamlined machinery and impeccable credibility. That the Congress is imputing that the Haryana election was less than free and fair is outrageous. It speaks of a sore loser and, much more than that, an irresponsible stakeholder.
In a system in which candidates who have lost by narrow margins, or even by one vote, have not questioned the fairness of either the umpire or the electoral mechanisms, the Congress’s unchecked flailing is enormously disturbing and a huge self-goal. Rahul Gandhi’s party needs to take a step back from its moment of defeat. It must ask itself if its extreme petulance is doing itself, and the people who vote for it, a grave disservice. As the leading Opposition party at the Centre, which also leads governments in three states, it ill behoves it to refuse to respect the result just because it has gone against its ambitions and expectations. To make matters more absurd, two prominent Haryana Congress leaders, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, also the face of its campaign, and chief ministerial wannabe, Kumari Selja, have conceded defeat, even as their party’s central leadership challenges the result.
AS THE Congress conjures up spectres and focuses on conspiracy theories in Haryana, it risks losing sight of the task it shares with the National Conference in J&K. Here, the hard work of politics and governance lies ahead.
It will include arduous negotiations within the structural constraints. The Lieutenant Governor was given a role larger than the assembly by the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019; recent amendments to the transaction rules have increased the already considerable powers of the Centre’s nominee. Delhi, the only other UT with a legislature, has showcased the damage that can be wreaked by constant attrition between the elected government and the unelected constitutional functionary.
In an interview in August, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370, J&K L-G Manoj Sinha told this newspaper: “I will work towards achieving a fine balance with the elected government to achieve peace, prosperity and development… If this is the objective, then where is the possibility of a clash?” Omar Abdullah, who did well to change his mind on entering the electoral race — he had told this paper, also in August: “I have been… the CM of the (once) most empowered state. I can’t see myself in a position where I would have to ask the L-G for appointing my peon” — will need to hold the L-G to his words. And as his ally, the Congress will need to help him to do that.
By giving in to its own worst instincts in Haryana, the Congress could be abdicating its opportunity in J&K, where sobriety and sagacity are demanded of it as a partner in the new government, which must contend with the people’s high expectations even as it possesses truncated powers.
IT MUST be hoped that the Congress will retrace its steps on the perilous path it set out on, on Tuesday. In Haryana, instead of quarreling with the verdict, it needs to ask itself some tough questions. While the Lok Sabha verdict gave its hopes a leg-up, it may have overread it. It may have sought to counter the BJP’s Hindutva appeal with a crude caste politics, that sought to draw us-and-them lines deeper, instead of building larger coalitions, and smudging identity politics, if not transcending it.
The Congress lost in Haryana, and has a chance to govern in J&K, and the sooner it gets down to its work in both states, the better for it. And for the BJP, the stunning Haryana triumph and the healthy showing in Jammu mean that the road ahead from the Lok Sabha verdict towards Maharashtra and Jharkhand suddenly looks less uphill.
