"Responsibility lies with Bapu-Beta": Shamsher Singh Gogi on Congress' defeat in Haryana

Karnal (Haryana) [India], October 10 : Former Congress MLA Shamsher Singh Gogi on Thursday attacked the "Hooda Congress" for creating a communication gap in the party which ultimately led to the Congress party's loss in the Assembly elections.

Gogi, who lost the Assandh seat to BJP leader Yoginder Singh Rana, indirectly criticised the father-son duo Bhupinder Hooda and Deepender Hooda by stating that the blame for the defeat rests with "Bapu-beta."

In an apparent reference to former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son Deepender Hooda, Gogi complianed that the state leadership was not happy with Rahul Gandhi's direct visit to Assandh.

"There was no issue but in the last two days, polarisation happened...State leadership was not happy with Rahul Gandhi's visit to Assandh. (Bhupinder Singh) Hooda didn't even take my name on stage...Congress would not have lost, 'Hooda Congress' was contesting the election and they lost, they didn't take anyone into confidence. They created a communication gap inside the party...had the election been contested properly, people wanted Congress govt this time...the responsibility (of the defeat) lies with 'Bapu-beta'," Gogi said while speaking to ANI.

Gogi, a former MLA of Aasandh was recontesting from the seat, but lost to BJP's Yoginder Rana by a margin of 2306 votes.

Ahead of the announcement of the Haryana Assembly election results, former Haryana Chief Minister and party leader Bhupinder Hooda said that the decision of who will become the Chief Minister if Congress wins the assembly elections will ultimately rest with the high command.

Speaking to ANI, Bhupinder Hooda said, "There is no infighting which is happening, Congress has their rules, they will look at the elected representatives and then the high command would take the decision."

Meanwhile, A delegation of Congress including KC Venugopal, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Ashok Gehlot Pratap Singh Bajwa, Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera, Ajay Maken and Uday Bhan went to meet the Election Commission of India to address their concerns over the results of Haryana assembly polls.

Addressing the media, Bhupinder Singh Hooda described the election result as 'surprising'. He also mentioned that Congress was ahead when ballots were counted and raised questions about EVM.

"Everyone thought that Congress will form the government in Haryana. Be it IB, experts, survey reports, but what happened was that when the counting of postal ballots started, Congress was leading everywhere, but when the counting of EVMs started, Congress was lagging behind," Hooda said.

The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) is poised to form the government for the third consecutive term in Haryana after the party secured 48 seats in the Haryana assembly elections. This is party's biggest victory in assembly polls in the state.The Congress won 37 seats while the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) won two seats. Independents won three seats.