The Congress-NCP alliance put up a good show in Maharashtra while the grand old party surprised the ruling side in Haryana by giving it a tough fight and coming up with an increased tally. As trends started pouring in, Congress leaders started discussing that had the party not given up midway apprehending the loss to yet another apparent 'Modi wave', it would have made a comeback in Haryana and together with regional parties wrested power in Maharashtra.
In the first Assembly elections after the BJP's triumph in the Lok Sabha polls in May, the ruling party's electoral juggernaut met with some resistance in Maharashtra and Haryana with a resurgent Congress performing creditably in the northern State.
"It is for the first time in five years that people have voted against BJP in Assembly relying more on local issues concerning them. BJP tried to misguide the voters in local elections by pitching national issues like Article 370 and triple talaq. But onions selling at Rs 70-80 per kg weighed more on the electorates' minds than Article 370," quipped a senior Congress leader.
The party said the poll verdict in Haryana and Maharashtra is a moral defeat of the BJP and what it stands for.
Congress' senior spokesperson Anand Sharma said that BJP chief Amit Shah's claim of victory in Haryana does not hold as the party is short of majority and there is a significant drop in its vote percentage. Claiming that the verdict of Haryana is against the BJP, he also said all parties opposing the BJP must come together.
In Haryana, the Congress, which failed to bag even one seat in the Lok Sabha polls, won or was ahead in 31 of the 90 seats at stake compared to its previous tally of 15. The BJP, which had 47 seats in the outgoing 90-member house, won or was ahead in 40 seats. The half-way mark is 46.
In Maharashtra, the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition was on course to retain power albeit with a reduced majority with the opposition Congress-NCP alliance putting up a good show.
Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja said people has rejected the ruling BJP and was ready to "embrace a new dawn of justice". Selja was appointed couple of months before the assembly elections when former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had threatened to quit the party if Selja's predecessor Ashok Tanwar is not axed as party chief.
A confident Hooda said he will soon meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and top party leaders to strategise on forming the Government in the state. Sonia already spoke to Hooda and given him the go-ahead to work towards forming the Government, they said.
"Former Haryana CM Hooda is already in touch with JJP and Independents," a source close to him said. Sonia had appointed Hooda the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader which proved to be a game changer for the party in Haryana which was struggling to maintain the party's ground which ruled for maximum number of years in the Jat dominant state.
While former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi campaigned in both the States, leaders lost hope after the only rally scheduled for Sonia to address was cancelled on the penultimate day of elections early this week.
Following the impressive results, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said party workers must believe that the BJP can be defeated in elections as calm and quiet patriotism can defeat muscular nationalism. Taking a swipe at the BJP, Chidambaram, who is in ED custody in a corruption case, said that miracles can happen if people shed their fear.
"Congress workers must believe that the BJP can be defeated in an election. Calm and quiet patriotism can defeat muscular nationalism," he said on Twitter. He said he had asked his family to tweet on his behalf.
Elated over the party's performance in the assembly polls in Maharastra and Haryana, the leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Thursday said the so called "Modi magic" is fast waning. The result of the assembly polls in the two states will help to rejuvenate Congress in the days to come, he said.