Assembly elections 2018: Rahul Gandhi, India’s man of the moment

Within an year after he took over as the national president of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi has silenced his critics by steering his party to election victories in the BJP-ruled Hindi heartland.

The way he has snatched three crucial Hindi states – which comprise 65 Lok Sabha seats - from the BJP’s fold, namely Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, it demonstrates how he has re-calibrated and re-energised the grand old party.

Predictably, praise and validation for the Congress president came from all quarters, including the Opposition parties. But, Modi’s acceptance of defeat was quite remarkable.

Among others, who have praised Rahul, Thiruvananthapuram Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was very categorical in saying: “Rahul Gandhi should get full credit. He campaigned a lot and very hard.”

The Congress president had addressed 82 rallies in three states during the election campaign and religiously targeted Modi and the BJP over farm distress, unemployment and Rafale scam among other prominent failures of the Modi government.

His barbs at Prime Minister Modi like “Chowkidar Hi Chor Hai” struck a chord with the electorate in the Hindi heartland. Additionally, his repeated mentioning of big scams like Rafale, Nirav Modi and the Mallya escape during election rallies found resonance with the voters.

Congress activists rightly hope that the party’s resurgence in three Hindi states will push the party to a position of reckoning in the Opposition camp ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing media at Congress headquarters after the results were declared on Tuesday evening, Rahul announced: “It will be difficult for the Prime Minister and the BJP to win elections in the face of resurgent Congress.”

A smiling, confident Rahul added during the media briefing, “I am quite happy with what we have achieved.” Besides, he made no bones about his political ambitions when he declared that “the victory is not limited to the assembly election. We will win 2019 Lok Sabha polls too!”

Analysts believe that the results of these assembly elections will definitely have a direct bearing on the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2019, as these states accounted for more than one-fifth of BJP’s total votes in the 2004, 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Notably, in 2014, the BJP had won 62 out of the total 65 Lok Sabha seats from these three states. Observers feel that the pattern will be reversed in favour of the Congress in next general elections.

Pertinently, soon after Rahul Gandhi took over as Congress president, the party had to face defeat in Himachal Pradesh assembly elections. The party, however, gave BJP a tough fight in Gujarat, which is the home state of BJP president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Modi. Although, Congress could win only 80 seats in Karnataka, it kept the BJP out of the power after forging a post-poll alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular).