Is Congress Losing Credibility Among INDIA Bloc? Allies Take Charge Across Poll-Bound States - Analysis

Assembly Elections 2024: The assembly elections are being seen as a litmus test for Congress as the grand old party tries to taste the waters after recent poll debacles.

Assembly Elections 2024: Two states are going to elect their next governments - Jharkhand and Maharashtra in the coming weeks. Both of these assembly polls are crucial given the results of the recent assembly elections of Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. While Congress lost Haryana to the BJP, it's sitting outside the government in Jammu and Kashmir. The election results of these two states had put a serious dent in the Congress party's winnability chances. 

In Jammu and Kashmir, Congress contested 32 seats but could win only six seats. In Haryana, it contested 89 seats and won just 37 in a direct contest with the BJP. Soon after the election result, the INDIA Bloc was quick to raise questions on the Congress party's strike rate in a direct contest with the BJP. The seat-sharing agreement between Congress and INDIA bloc allies reflected the fallout of the Haryana and J&K results. 

Uttar Pradesh Bypolls

Nine assembly seats are going to the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress and the Samajwadi Party were locked in an intense seat-sharing deal. But the Samajwadi Party refused to buzz to the Congress party's demand and finally, it was decided that the Samajwadi Party would contest all the seats on its own. However, Akhilesh Yadav gave a face-saver to Congress by saying that it's INDIA Bloc's united fight.

Bihar Bye-elections

In Bihar, where the RJD, Congress and Left parties are part of the Mahagathbandhan, the Congress has again scored a duck. Of the four seats up for bypolls, the RJD is contesting 3 and the CPI-ML has got one. Notably, this comes as the Congress party's strike rate has been very low in Bihar. In the Bihar assembly elections in 2020, Congress contested 70 seats and managed to win just 19.  

Jharkhand Assembly Elections

In Jharkhand, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has given 29 seats to the Congress out of the 80. It's the only state where Congress has been given a respectable seat share by the allies. However, it again leaves the Congress dependent on the allies for government formation. 

Maharashtra Assembly Polls

In Maharashtra, the Congress was trying to contest around 110 seats citing its improved performance in the Lok Sabha polls. However, regional parties like Shiv Sena-UBT and the NCP-Sharad Pawar did not buzz and after marathon meetings, the parties agreed to Shiv Sena-UBT's proposal of contesting below 100 seats. Now, all three big parties will contest 85 seats each, leaving the rest of the seats for Samajwadi Party, PWP, CPI(M), CPI, and AAP.

Congress Being Pushed To The Wall

Once the largest party in the country, Congress is increasingly being pushed to the back seats across big states. INDIA bloc allies are forcing the grand old party either to sit out or sit back when it comes to seat sharing. Be it in West Bengal or Tamil Nadu, the allies took control of the polls by bagging the majority shares of the seats. The same is happening across other states where the Congress has failed to perform in a direct contest against the BJP. While Congress has displayed a maturity by playing second fiddle in these polls, the party will suffer in the long-run as the allies will bcome stronger, leaving less space for Congress.