The Congress party’s dismal performance in Haryana’s mayoral elections has once again laid bare its deep-rooted organisational weaknesses at the grassroots level. What stood out was the sheer scale of BJP’s dominance across key cities like Faridabad, Gurugram, Hisar, Sonepat, Karnal, Panipat, and Ambala.
In three major municipal corporations—Faridabad, Gurugram, and Panipat—BJP candidates secured landslide victories, winning by margins exceeding one lakh votes.
With triumphs in nine out of 10 municipal corporations, the saffron party has further entrenched its hold over Haryana’s urban political landscape. Meanwhile, the Congress, once a formidable force in municipal corporations across Rohtak, Sonepat, and Sirsa, continues to lose ground.
Political experts attribute its decline to fractured leadership and a weakened grassroots presence, making its defeat all but inevitable.
In seven out of ten contests, its candidates failed to even surpass the victory margins of their BJP rivals—an alarming indicator of the party’s continued decline in the state.
This electoral setback highlights not only a leadership vacuum but also the party’s failure to reconnect with voters, insiders confess.
Experts point to three key reasons behind the party’s poor performance in the municipal elections.
First, internal factionalism weakened the party, allowing independents to erode its electoral base. Secondly, Dalit voters began drifting away, disillusioned by Selja Kumari’s abrupt silence during and after the assembly elections. Third, the party’s absence on the ground underscored its organizational disarray, a direct consequence of deep-rooted infighting.
The Congress functionaries are now raising alarm saying there is an urgent need to craft a compelling strategy, and mount a credible challenge against the BJP’s formidable electoral machinery.
