The UP bypoll results must be very depressing for the Congress leadership for they show that the oldest political party of the country is heading towards a new low.
After the drubbing in the 2012 Assembly election and the humiliating defeat in the last parliament polls, the party high command had again reposed faith in the leadership of Nirmal Kharti in the state, only to be let down once again.In the just concluded bypolls to the 11 Assembly seats in UP, the Congress candidates not just lost their deposits in nine constituencies but also faced the ignominy of ending up fourth, behind Peace Party and an Independent candidate in Bijnore and Rohania.
It may be mentioned here that the Bahujan Samaj Party, as per its policy, had not contested the bypolls.Surprisingly, despite the humiliating defeat in the UP bypolls, some senior leaders like Congress general secretary Madhusudan Mistry, who is also incharge of the party affairs in UP, have refused to accept the defeat and have come out in defence of Khatri, saying they did not get enough time to prepare for the byelections.
However, former union minister and senior Congress leader, Beni Prasad Verma, was not hesitant to except the defeat and attributed it to selection of non-serious candidates plus lack of proper connect with the masses. ``Except for one or two candidates who took the elections seriously and fought with true spirit, all the others lack confidence and they just file the papers and did nothing to show that they could also win the elections”, asserted Beni while adding that it is better that the Party should give tickets in selected constituencies and fought it with strength then the results could be different and a positive message should be also passed on to the public.
When asked whethert lack of proper leadership in UP to lead the Party or non-existence of the cadre which plays important role in victory or defeat of any candidate is the reason behind Congress’s poor show, Beni refused to reply on the state leadership issue but said that if strong and charismatic leaders lead or contest the elections, the cadre took no time to came behind and ensure success and he won’t see absence of cadre in UP.
``The need of the hour for revival of the Party is a leader which had acceptance in all the caste and religion and it is only possible if the leader had a charismatic personality”, claimed former union minister without going into further details.It may be mentioned that further decline of Congress in this by-polls in comparison to last Assembly elections held in 2012 is evident if one goes by the statistics. In Bijnore, where kin of Congress leader in the legislative Council, Naseeb Pathan contested this election, he got just 1.26 percent of votes than to 22.67 percent which Congress alliance partner Rastriya lok Dal got in last Assembly elections.
Similarly, in Rohania, Congress candidate, Dr Bhawna Patel got just 1.72 percent of total votes this time in comparison to 9.52 percent in 2012. In Nighasan, Congress get just 3.38 percent of votes than to 8 percent which they got last time. In Thakurdwara (Moradabad), Congress get 7.48 percent votes in comparison to 21.12 percent they got last time. It may be mentioned that last time, Congress give ticket to Nawab Jan, who this time contested on Samajwadi Party ticket and also won the elections.
In lucknow (East), which Congress claimed to be in the winning position, their vote share which is 18.61 percent in 2012, this time dips to 7.09 percent. In Sirathu, Congress get 10.91 percent votes in 2012 but this time they received just 3.45 percent. In Balha, the Party get 3.31 percent this time while last time they get 11.84 percent. In Saharanpur also, Congress dream of opening the account has been also dashed after it’s candidate got just 12.89 percent votes in comparison to 33.05 percent they got last time. In Noida, Congress get 10.33 percent than compared to 12.15 percent last time. In Hamirpur, the Party done some better after they get 19.74 percent votes than to 13.17 percent last time. lastly, only achievement made by the Congress is in Charkhari, where Party’s candidate Ram Jivan, who get 22.87 percent votes than to 11.71 percent last time, but had came second and pushed even the Bharatiya Janta Party’s candidate to third place.