In this episode of Central Hall, two experts – journalists Neerja Chowdhury and Vinod Sharma – convene to dissect the Haryana assembly election results, exploring the ticket distribution strategies of Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and examining the factors that led to the Congress party’s defeat.
They claimed that in Haryana, the Congress party gave Bhupinder Singh Hooda significant control, allowing him to decide candidates on 72 out of 90 seats. This development allegedly upset Kumari Selja, a prominent Dalit, female leader, who had expressed interest in contesting the assembly elections but was reportedly denied. “She became a symbol of what the Dalits feel,” senior journalist Chowdhury said.
Further, the experts underlined that the Congress party made the mistake of “over-projecting Hooda” as the chief ministerial candidate this time while they didn’t project him in the previous assembly polls at all.
The experts noted that Hooda failed to take “other leaders along with him” this election.
“The Congress party has forgotten how to contest elections,” veteran journalist Vinod Sharma said, adding that the Haryana scenario can serve as a case study on “how not to win elections”.
Chowdhury is an award-winning journalist, political commentator, columnist and author. Previously, she was the political editor of the Indian Express. Sharma is a veteran journalist and the political editor of the Hindustan Times. He has a keen interest in South Asian politics.