Congress - after a lot of infighting, has begun to self-implode

The Indian National Congress (INC) has begun to self-implode. Various senior Congress leaders have come out against their own party and are disgruntled with regards to the direction in which the Grand Old Party is heading. Here's a timeline of events indicating the state-by-state disintegration of the once-strong ruling party to a weak Opposition.

'Where has the party gone?'

Ahead of the Haryana polls where Congress stares a tough fight from BJP, senior leaders Ahmed Patel, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and Ghulam Nabi Azad were caught on camera discussing the present situation of the party. The 38-second video features the Congress leaders in a tensed discussion about the party matters outside the Parliament, in which Sonia Gandhi's close aide Ahmed Patel was seen asking Hooda and Azad, "Where the party (Congress) has gone?" While the leaders were seen discussing numbers of the internal assessments of the expected performance of the party leaders, Patel posed a question, asking: “Party gayi kahan (Where has the party gone)?”

READ| BS Hooda silent on Ahmed Patel's "Where has Congress gone?" admission

Haryana: Ashok Tanwar levels allegations against Cong

Former President of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee Ashok Tanwar has previously levelled allegations against the Congress and senior Congress leaders claiming that tickets were being distributed on whims and fancies and were being "sold", ignoring those who had worked for years. 'People are saying that the ticket for the Sohna Assembly seat has been sold for ₹5 crore', he said.

Rajasthan: Pilot and Gehlot at loggerheads

The situation in Rajasthan for the Congress has hit a rough patch with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Deputy CM Sachin Pilot squabbling with each other. Pilot on September 16, had issued a statement where he said that the law and order in parts of the state had deteriorated. 

VIRAL | Anticipating poll flop, Ahmed Patel asks 'Where has Cong gone?'

Maharashtra: Nirupam expresses dismay

Even in Maharastra, the Grand Old Party has lost its charm with Senior Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam taking a step back from participating in the Maharashtra poll campaign, days ahead of the assembly elections in the state. In a tweet, the former Maharashtra Congress chief expressed his dismay against the grand old party for rejecting his only recommendation for the Assembly elections.

Uttar Pradesh: Raebareli (Sadar) MLA Aditi Singh defies INC

In Raebareli, which is the constituency of Congress Supremo Sonia Gandhi, the present Congress MLA from Raebareli (Sadar) Aditi Singh, had defied the Congress Party lines with her support  for abrogation of Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Again on Wednesday, she defied her party for the second time by attending a special Assembly session called in by the Yogi Adityanath government.

READ| Raebareli MLA Aditi Singh goes against Congress to attend BJP session

Madhya Pradesh: Infighting and Scindia's ultimatum:

Jyotiraditya Scindia has been growing frustrated with the Congress and this reached its boiling point during the Madhya Pradesh polls. Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the party’s cadre was split to choose between Scindia and Kamal Nath as the state CM and leader heading M.P Congress respectively. Following the state polls which the Congress won, Scindia, as per sources, was miffed about not getting the chief minister post or even deputy chief minister post. Recently, sources said that Scindia had given a ten-day ultimatum to the party to make him the Madhya Pradesh Congress chief.

Congress leaders frustrated with own party, praise PM Modi 

PM Modi has been receiving a lot of praise for all the work he has been doing. But in an unprecedented move, various Congress leaders too have come in praise of the Prime Minister. In one such instance, Congress leader Milind Deora recently praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his 'Howdy Modi!' event in Houston, Texas. Deora in a tweet called the address by the PM 'momentous' as he recalled his father - Murli Deora's contribution to Indo-US ties. Following Deora, senior Congress leader Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi too praised the PM for his crisp and positive address at the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The senior Congress leader tweeted that there was no comparison between PM Modi's speech and Pakistan PM Imran Khan's speech at UNGA. He stated that Khan's speech was petty, narrow, threatening and scared. In comparison, he stated that PM Modi did not mention Pakistan and spoke of India's achievements, culture, and potential. He declared India and PM Modi won hands down.

READ | Haryana Cong protests at Sonia Gandhi's gate over 'cash for tickets'