The crushing defeat of Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra has brought the Congress Party back to its initial position. After the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the odds were against Mahayuti and the grand old party had a chance to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party by winning in India’s richest state.
However, the MVA’s shocking performance dashed Congress’s hopes of a nationwide revival and also wiped out the gains it had made in the general elections. He also gave air to his main electoral themes, such as “saving the Constitution” and the caste census, which were adopted by the people during the Lok Sabha elections.
failed electoral management
Although the Congress continually denies it, a huge difference can be seen in the planning and preparations between the BJP and the Congress. The BJP had started working on its weaknesses from day one.
The Congress Party’s careless attitude and overconfidence became its biggest weakness. The Congress Party did not seem to be involved in the political game at all. The BJP moved forward with one strategy after another, while the Congress had no concrete strategy to counter it. Their own candidates had to fight off the attack from the ruling coalition.
The Congress contested elections for 108 seats, but its leadership was hardly there to hold the fort. Rahul Gandhi (7) and Mallikarjun Kharge (9) together held only 16 rallies. By the time Priyanka Gandhi Vadra showed up with three rallies and a tour, it was too late. Her campaign could have focused on attracting women voters to the party, but they played no role as she continued to fight her first battle in Wayanad until November 13.
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no strong narrative
The Congress Party did not have a strong narrative that could strengthen the MVA campaign and make it a strong alternative. The BJP was helped by welfare, development, Hindutva and nationalism.
The MVA did not do enough to counter or refute the BJP’s propaganda. Be it agricultural crisis, unemployment, rural distress, inflation or corruption.
The Maharashtra elections were also a referendum on Rahul Gandhi’s strongest election slogan after the Lok Sabha elections. The slogan of “Save the Constitution” faded. It held two Constituent Assemblies between elections in Nagpur and Kolhapur, where the party’s performance was poor. Despite the aggressive demand for a caste census, the party failed to woo voters. Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the BJP managed to push the slogans of “If we are united, we are safe” and “If we are divided, we are safe.” The Congress has failed to convince the voters of Maharashtra in its ideological battle.
Congress lost its vote bank
Be it Vidarbha or Marathwada, the Congress Party lost a significant vote bank. From onion farmers to soybean farmers, the farming community is an important vote bank for the Congress party. Raising farmers’ issues and campaigning for them could have won over this class of voters.
Women voters played an important role in the spectacular victory of the BJP and the Congress did not read the signal, while earlier in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP had defeated it with the Laadli Brahmin Yojana. Although it had promised the Mahalakshmi plan in its manifesto, promising Rs 3,000, the party failed to sell it to the voters or inform them properly. Perhaps the duo of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Supriya Sule could have made some progress with this plan but it failed to grab the attention of the public.
The BJP has also managed to bring the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other Backward Classes into its fold through its welfare schemes, which may become a problem for the Congress in the upcoming fight.
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lack of unity
Many senior Congress leaders have lost the elections. Most of them were candidates for the post of Chief Minister. Former CM Prithviraj Chavan lost to BJP’s Dr Atulbaba Suresh Bhosale from the Karad South Assembly seat. In Teosa assembly constituency, BJP’s Rajesh Shriramji Wankhade won by defeating Congress veteran Yashomati Chandrakant Thakur. Similarly, in Sangamner assembly constituency, Shiv Sena candidate Amol Khatal defeated Congress veteran Balasaheb Thorat by 1,12,386 votes, while Thorat polled 1,01,826 votes. State President Nana Patole managed to win by a small margin.
Low speed of Maha Vikas vehicle
After the defeat in Haryana, problems have arisen for the Congress as leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) have targeted the Congress for losing the direct fight with the BJP.
It was a journey full of ups and downs from the beginning, there was a lack of harmony and unity. Each party patched its own patches. There was also a war of words over the seat-sharing formula, with rebels pitting themselves against each other on about three dozen seats.
MVA had no face. Its leaders seemed bound to the alliance only by circumstance. The Congress high command could have played the role of changing the situation, perhaps a series of rallies and road shows could have brought about some change, but the heavy vehicle seemed to be moving slowly and eventually its tires got punctured.
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