The supporters of the Indian National Congress have gone gung-ho over the results of the recent elections held in five states. They have every reason to celebrate after having got the chance to form the government in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan despite conceding defeat to the Mizo National Front (MNF) in Mizoram and failing to topple Telangana Rashtra Samithi in Telangana (TRS) in Telangana. It was like trading a pawn for a rook in a chess game because capturing the Hindi heartland and political powerhouse states was a big achievement, an accomplishment that can sway the political mood of the country. It has been downhill all the way for the party after the demoralising defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections for the party until this time. The recent victory will come as a huge relief to the Congress camp. The party chief Rahul Gandhi, who comes across as decent and simple but supposedly lack qualities of a strong leader to lead the world’s largest democracy, has suddenly become a serious candidate to challenge BJP’s big names, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP leadership will see this new development as a threat, something they have not experienced ever since they tasted power. It is good for Indian politics as having “choice” strengthens democracy. No one is indispensable.
The results of the recent elections will surely boost the morale of the Congress, a breath of fresh air that can instil the confidence to win, but it do not necessarily indicate the political mood of the country, and it may not be the “semi-final” to next year’s Lok Sabha election as has been dubbed to be. The fact is that only five states, including the three newly conquered ones, are ruled by the party and its allies while the BJP is still has 18 under its rule. Moreover, the party’s vote share in Madhya Pradesh in the recent election was 40 percent against BJP’s 41 percent, while it is 38.8 percent for the saffron party and 39.3 percent for the Congress in Rajasthan. In Chhattisgarh, the Congress’ vote share is more than that of its arch-rival by 10 percent, but overall, the BJP’s stronghold in Hindi belt states is still evident. Rahul Gandhi and his team have lots of hard work to do during the months leading up to the next general election. The Congress party needs to hold its horses and seriously strengthen the bond with its alliance and broaden the horizons by being more accommodative to prospective partners ahead of the polls to ensure that the allies do not eat into each other’s vote bank. If this is neglected, it will be hard to beat the BJP which seemed to have learned the art of winning.
