Key Points
New Delhi:Having turned the corner in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had everything going for it in Haryana..
The occasional sceptics did point out that the Congress confidence may have been bordering on complacency..
Political researcher Asim Ali told ThePrint that the Congress could have paid the price for giving the Hooda family a free run in the lead up to the elections, be it in campaigning across Haryana, or distribution of tickets, stripping the party of its umbrella character that helps manage caste and sub-regional equations..
The nearly six percent vote share obtained by the Indian National Lok Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party (INLD-BSP) alliance also may have come entirely at the Congress expense, along with the over 11 percent vote share of Independents made up primarily of dissidents...
Going ahead, the Congress high command and the authority of the Gandhis will once again face intense questioning, an aspect which was missing in the last few months as the party revelled in its better-than-expected success at the Lok Sabha hustings..
