Why are Congress legislators vulnerable to horse-trading?

After having lost power to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre in 2014, the Congress is struggling not only to stem its electoral slide but also keep its flock together. 

Several Congress leaders and legislators have jumped ship post-2014. The grand old party has lost three governments due to the defection of its legislators – first in Arunachal Pradesh in 2016, then in Karnataka in 2016 (it was part of a Janata Dal (Secular)-led coalition government) and thirdly in Madhya Pradesh in 2020.

While it nearly lost power in Uttarakhand in 2016, the party witnessed exodus of its legislators in several states, especially in Goa, Manipur and Gujarat.

Over the years, the Congress legislators have become vulnerable to poaching and horse-trading, especially at the time of Rajya Sabha elections or trust vote. To prevent that, the Congress herds them to different resorts across the country, mainly to the party-ruled states.

Ahead of the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections on 57 seats spread across 15 states, the resort politics is back with the Congress shifting its legislators to different resorts.

While the party has taken its Rajasthan legislators to a resort in Udaipur, those from Haryana have been shifted to Chhattisgarh. Both Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are Congress-ruled states.

Though the Congress leaders often blame it on power politics and the enormous amount of money being offered to them, one of the reasons is the lack of ideological commitment to the party.

For them, self-interest is paramount besides they don’t see any future in the party. The prevailing leadership crisis at the top is also adding to the unrest. A sense of frustration among leaders and legislators is palpable.

While money and power may be the biggest allurements, some have left after feeling hurt for being continuously side-lined or ignored in promotions in the party.

A senior Congress leader attributed this to the ticket distribution in the party, insisting that the sole criteria for selection of candidates is winnability while factors such as ideological commitment, loyalty and contribution to the growth of the organisation are being consistently overlooked.

The trust factor is clearly missing and that has resulted in increased resort politics.

In Rajasthan, the Congress is all set to bag two seats and the BJP one. The contest is on the fourth seat after businessman Subhash Chandra Goyal filed his nomination as an independent candidate.

Similarly in Haryana, the BJP is set to win one seat while the fight is on the second. The Congress has fielded senior leader Ajay Maken while businessman Kartikeya Sharma, son of former lawmaker Vinod Sharma, is contesting as an independent. 

The Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) with 10 legislators has extended its support to Sharma while the BJP is expected to give second preference votes to him. Much depends on the independents and Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi who is upset with the grand old party for not appointing him as the Haryana Congress president. 

Having said that, the two nail-biting contests will also set the tone for the upcoming assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

The only time when the Congress put up a determined fight in recent years was in the 2016 Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat where late Ahmed Patel snatched victory from the BJP’s jaws. That win came as a huge morale booster for the party as it went on to register an improved performance in the home state of Prime MInister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah in nearly three decades.

While the Congress bagged 77 seats, it restricted the ruling BJP to 99, the first time the saffron party could not cross the 100-mark since 1995.

It will be interesting to see if these Rajya Sabha polls infuse the much-needed fighting spirit in the Congress ahead of the crucial assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.