Congress must think hard about its defeat in Haryana: Omar Abdullah

Omar Abdullah criticizes Congress defeat in Haryana, vows to help NC-Congress alliance in Jammu & Kashmir.

National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Wednesday (October 9, 2024) said the Congress will have to introspect deep to find reasons for its defeat in Haryana, where the BJP is set to return for a third consecutive term. The NC and the Congress fought the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls as allies.

"I had already said we were only wasting our time with these exit polls. But no one would have thought that the exit polls would be so wrong. Had it been 20 in place of 18 or 22 in place of 20, (we could have understood). But what happened was that 30 became 60 and 60 became 30," the NC leader told reporters in Srinagar. The exit polls had predicted a majority for the Congress in Haryana.

"The Congress will have to go deep into it and find the reasons for its defeat," Mr. Abdullah said. "My job is to run the NC and help the alliance here, which I will," he added. The NC and the Congress are set to form a government in Jammu & Kashmir — the first since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.