Infighting, factionalism led to defeat for Congress in Panchkula MC elections

Factionalism and infighting have once again led the Congress party to admit defeat in a closely-contested election of the Panchkula municipal corporation (MC).

Losing the mayoral race to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by a narrow margin, the Congress will sit in opposition with just seven seats in the House of 20.

A stream of Congress leaders, unhappy with the distribution of tickets, had made a beeline to leave the party and join hands with the BJP. Ranjeeta Mehta, former Haryana Congress spokesperson and national coordinator for the All-India Mahila Congress, who was denied a mayoral ticket by the party, had switched over to the BJP on December 24.

‘Old rivalries hard to forget’

The directions from the state Congress leadership including state party president Kumari Selja were clear: stand united behind the candidates or face consequences. “As a result of the warning, different factions of the party presented a united front, albeit in public. But the old internecine rivalries are hard to forget especially when there is an opportunity to settle scores. That’s what happened behind the scenes during this election,” said a local party leader, requesting anonymity.

There were instances when the fissures even came out into the open. “At least on two occasions, when state leadership came for campaigning, the mayoral candidate was ignored and not even invited to the public events,” said the leader.

Party insiders also blame the legacy of Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia’s last term as mayor. “The residents were wary of history repeating again. Last time around, the city’s development had suffered immensely because of the tense relationship between her and the incumbent MLA Gian Chand Gupta,” said the party leader.

With the winning margins as low as 49 in some wards, the presence of strong independent candidates also weakened the party’s prospects, some of whom were former Congress party members. “Omwati Punia who won as an independent candidate from ward 11 was formerly a Congress councillor,” said a former Congress councillor, who also didn’t get the party ticket.

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