THE QUESTIONS
1. Ajay Maken's realization - from
'we will score and spring a surprise' to 'we will respect the mandate and would
play whatever role public would want us to' - even before the results are out -
has Congress accepted its doom in Delhi's politics after the projections of
exit polls which did not give the party more than five seats? Some polls even
said the party would fail to win even a single seat.
2. Is Delhi the next or yet
another marker in the downward journey of the Congress party? It has already been pushed
to the margins of Bihar's politics, where elections are due later this year,
and 'becoming politically irrelevant in Delhi' would exacerbate the process of
the party becoming irrelevant in other states as well.
3. After scoring a historic low
in Lok Sabha polls with just 44 seats, Congress performed even more miserably
in different assembly polls of 2014. In Andhra Pradesh, it could not open its
account. In Telangana, the state it created to reap its act's political
windfall, it was down by 30 seats to 21 seats in the 119 member strong
assembly. In Odisha, it could win only 16 of 147. In Maharashtra, where it
ruled for three terms, the party came third with 41 seats of 288. After ruling
Haryana, it was pushed to the third spot with only 15 seats. Similar stories
were repeated in Jharkhand and J&K where the party came fourth with abysmally low
numbers. In further misery, reports from Jharkhand today said that four of the six
Jharkhand Congress MLAs were joining BJP. Add Delhi debacle to the list. Is the
grand fall of the Grand Old Party of India is proving unstoppable?
4. Congress was expected to
spring some surprise, not only by the estimates of Congress, but by others as
well. What can explain this rout then?
5. Even the candidates who were
expected to win based on their name and work - like Ajay Maken or A K Walia -
if even they lose - what would it tell about the scale of the fall of the
Congress party?
6. Ajay Maken is Congress General
Secretary and heads party's communication wing. Sources say he would resign
from both the posts in case he loses the assembly polls. Is it a mere posturing
as running short of people to man the organization and Maken being in good
books of Rahul Gandhi, the party would not let him go?
7. This type of posturing after
poll debacles where some people take responsibility and others speak to
exonerate them - will it take Congress to its ultimate political doom?
8.How would Delhi further dent
Congress's prospects on its organizational spread? Even the candidates who could
have won are expected to lose because they are Congress candidates - is
Congress staring at split, defections and mass exodus in coming days?
9. The last time when we heard of
Congress in Delhi politics was in December 2013 assembly polls that were being
seen as a BJP Vs Congress contest. But after the polls, the underdog, Aam Aadmi
Party, replaced Congress by emerging as the second largest party and went on
to form the government with Congress's support who could win just 8 seats.
Now, just after an year, AAP is expected to sweep Delhi, even with its
deserter tag and Kejriwal's act of betrayal that left Delhi without a government
for a year. Has AAP effectively taken over the political constituency of
Congress in Delhi?
10. AAP sweeping Delhi tells the
party would eat into votes of BJP also if it indeed wins 45 to 50 seats.
Segments that voted for Modi in Lok Sabha and assembly polls - middle class and
youth - have voted for AAP according to the exit polls data. The lower income
groups were already in its fold. Muslims in these polls have voted en-masse for
AAP. Muslims and lower income groups have traditionally been voting for
Congress forming the major chunk of its 'secular plank'. As AAP has given a
credible alternative to voters in Delhi, appealing to every section of the
society, building thus a secular plank, and as AAP spreads beyond Delhi,
something that is bound to happen if the exit polls come true, wouldn't
Congress face an existential threat to its 'secular plank' nationally, and
thus an existential threat to its political survival?