NEW DELHI: Congress 's defeat in Haryana certainly came as an unexpected jolt to the INDIA coalition of opposition parties. But this "reality check" has also brought a sense of relief to the allies - regional parties, strong in their own domain - in terms of working out coalition deals, especially for the row of upcoming state polls. They will have to deal with a slightly more restrained Congress, rather than an exuberant and overconfident party that emerged after the Lok Sabha "victory" with 99 seats, which often led to it side-lining the demands of partners.
This was reflected early on Tuesday with Shiv Sena UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi losing no time in responding to early trends showing Congress falling behind BJP, saying, "Even after anti-incumbency BJP is winning...
somewhere it shows that Congress will have to take a re-look at its own battle plans, look within itself, and take into account that whenever there is a direct fight with BJP, Congress seems to be falling weak. It has to rework the entire alliance..
." With the Maharashtra elections around the corner, where Congress is in alliance with Udhav Thackaray-led Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar's NCP, an overconfident Congress has not been as responsive to the crucial seat-sharing arrangement and also to Sena's demand for Thackaray to be projected as the CM face. The defeat in Haryana and the lacklustre performance in Jammu could prompt Congress to set aside its swagger and return to a more cooperative approach, which would.
