On Wednesday, senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda refuted claims of influencing ticket distribution for the Assembly elections, acknowledging that the results came as a significant shock. The BJP secured its third consecutive term in Haryana, winning 48 out of 90 Assembly seats, despite exit polls predicting a Congress victory. Hooda, a former chief minister who led the party’s campaigns for both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, spoke to The Indian Express about the allegations of factionalism harming the party and his concerns regarding the integrity of the EVMs.

Excerpts:

After securing five Lok Sabha seats in June, how do you interpret the Vidhan Sabha poll results?

It’s absolutely astonishing. We have been active on the ground for the past five years. There was widespread anger directed at this non-performing BJP government. People from all communities across the state were eager to cast their votes on October 5 to remove this government. We were fully prepared to form the government. I expressed this not out of overconfidence, but based on the feedback we received from the ground. All surveys, including our internal assessments, indicated a positive outcome for us. It’s hard to believe that so many could be mistaken. All I can say is that in this democracy, the people lost, and the system prevailed.

Kumari Selja has claimed that ticket distribution was uneven due to your influence. Do you agree with her?

How could the ticket distribution be uneven? The Congress party follows a systematic procedure. We invited applications and received a large number of requests from ticket aspirants. The scrutiny committee reviewed these applications, shortlisted winnable candidates, and after multiple levels of examination, the final decisions were made by the party high command. There’s no way it could be lopsided at my direction.

Do you think Kumari Selja’s absence from the campaign, or the BJP’s focus on your disagreements with her, impacted the results?

That’s completely absurd. Where were BJP leaders like Rambilas Sharma, Anil Vij, and Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh during the campaign? The BJP is silent about its own factional issues. There is no such thing in the Congress. Our campaign was robust, and all our party leaders and workers gave their best efforts.

Do you believe Congress, or you personally, relied too heavily on Jat voters, allowing the BJP to consolidate the non-Jat vote?

That kind of analysis lacks foundation. We received support from all 36 biradaris (community groups). Voters from various communities, castes, and religions backed the Congress. Otherwise, how could we achieve a 39 percent vote share? [The BJP won 48 seats with a 39.94 percent vote share, while Congress secured 37 seats with 39.09 percent.] The difference in vote share is minimal, just a few decimal points.

What happened during your meeting with the Election Commission?

The situation is quite alarming. It needs to be examined step-by-step. In the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party’s vote share increased by over 16 percent, while the BJP’s dropped by 12 percent. Both parties secured five Lok Sabha seats each. All surveys, including our internal ones, indicated that Congress would achieve an absolute majority. During the polling on October 5, all exit polls projected a significant lead for Congress over the BJP. On October 8, when the counting began with postal ballots, Congress was comfortably ahead. However, once the EVMs were opened, we started to lose ground. How could that happen? We received numerous complaints; at least 20 of our candidates reported EVM malfunctions or issues. How could an EVM show 99% battery life during the counting process? We have raised our concerns with the Election Commission, which has promised to investigate.