Congress must fight future elections alone: Senior leader Kishore Jha

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Kishore Kumar Jha on Sunday slammed coalition partners within the INDIA alliance and a significant segment of the media for vilifying the grand old party in support of Arvind Kejriwal.

Jha expressed his regret over not winning any seats in the election but praised the Congress's efforts towards re-establishing its presence in Delhi.

"The actions taken by Congress in Delhi today are the right steps towards re-establishing the party," he told NewsDrum.

On the accusations made by coalition partners and media narratives, he argued that if he hadn't been portrayed as a villain by these allies, Congress might have won more than half a dozen seats.

"If our coalition partners and a large segment of the media hadn't continuously accused Congress of trying to defeat Arvind Kejriwal, we might have seen different results," he stated, pointing out that this narrative led to a triangular contest in most seats, diluting Congress's vote share.

He recalled the Anna Movement's inception, where Arvind Kejriwal accused Congress of corruption, a narrative initially supported by RSS and BJP.

Jha emphasised that neither Kejriwal's administration over the last 11 years nor the BJP-led central government could substantiate these claims, yet they continue to blame Congress for their political strategies.

Jha also lamented the role of the media, accusing it of biased reporting that favoured Kejriwal while portraying Congress as the antagonist.

"A significant segment of the media has distorted to the extent that they were presenting Kejriwal as a national alternative," he added.

He concluded by advocating for a strategic shift for Congress, suggesting that the party should consider going solo in future elections to avoid being undermined by coalition partners.

"We must adopt a strategy to walk alone to succeed in elections; otherwise, these allies will continue to portray us as villains, leading to our electoral defeat," Jha concluded.

Next assembly elections are scheduled in Bihar later this year, where Congress is part of the Mahagathbandhan along with Rashtriya Janata Dal, among others.

It would be interesting to see whether the Congress high command pays any heed to Jha's suggestion, who himself comes from Bihar.