'Knows The Art Of Turning Victory Into Defeat', 'Should Think Deep': How Allies Reacted To Congress Loss

The NC and Congress are set to form a government in J&K, while Congress and Sena (UBT) will jointly fight the Maharashtra polls this year.

Congress's allies, the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, have criticised it for the poll debacle in Haryana. Congress managed to get only 37 of the total 90 seats despite former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and poll debutant Vinesh Phogat winning big.

National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah, who fought the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections in alliance with Congress, said the party will have to introspect "deep" to find reasons for its defeat in Haryana, where the BJP is set to return for a third consecutive term.

"I had already said we were only wasting our time with these exit polls. But no one would have thought that the exit polls would be so wrong. Had it been 20 in place of 18 or 22 in place of 20, (we could have understood). But what happened was that 30 became 60 and 60 became 30," the NC leader told reporters.

The exit polls had predicted a majority for the Congress in Haryana. "The Congress will have to go deep into it and find the reasons for its defeat," Abdullah said, adding, "My job is to run the NC and help the alliance here, which I will." The NC and Congress are set to form a government in J&K -- the first since the abrogation of Article 370 five years ago.

Congress Knows The Art Of Turning Victory Into Defeat: Uddhav's Shiv Sena

Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena faction, which is going to contest the upcoming Maharashtra election alongside the Congress and the NCP, criticised the Congress' decision to contest the elections alone. "INDIA block won in Jammu and Kashmir because Congress fought elections in alliance, but it went solo in Haryana and ignored alliance partners there. It faced defeat despite people being upset with BJP. Congress knows the art of turning victory into defeat," an editorial in the party's mouthpiece Saamana read.

Sanjay Raut, a Member of Parliament from Shiv Sena (UBT), said, "If Congress wants to go solo all over the country, then it should announce that so everyone else would be free to take their own decision in their respective states."

Congress To Analyse 'Unexpected' Results

Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made his first comments on the party's poor performance in the Haryana Assembly elections, the results of which were announced on Tuesday.

Rahul said the party was analysing the "unexpected" results in the state, where exit polls predicted a majority for the party. "We are analysing the unexpected results of Haryana. We will inform the Election Commission about the complaints coming from many assembly constituencies. Heartfelt thanks to all the people of Haryana for their support and to our Babbar Sher workers for their tireless hard work," he wrote on X.