NEW DELHI: It was an year that saw a resurgent Congress, under the inspiring leadership of Rahul emerge as a strong opponent to the BJP, giving a scare to the ruling party in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Though the year saw the party lose power in Uttarakhand, Manipur and Himachal Pradesh, it’s strong showing in Gujarat saw the party emerge as a formidable foe to the ruling dispensation ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Starting the year on a disappointing note with losses in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and failure to form governments in Goa and Manipur despite being the single largest party in both states, the Congress emerged as a force to reckon with by the year end, thanks largely to a spirited campaign by Rahul in Gujarat, and party’s alliance with the trio of Patel leader Hardik Patel and Dalit leaders Jjgnesh Mewani and Alpesh Thakore, all of which culminated in the BJP being reduced to double digits in the state, its lowest since 1995.
The strong performance by the Congress in Gujarat was credited to a relentless campaign led by its youth icon Rahul Gandhi, who came into his own this year as he was finally elevated to the post of party president after elections to the top post in the party.
Though after the loss in UP and Uttarakhand and ‘missing the bus’ in Goa and Manipur despite being the single largest party, nobody gave them much of a chance in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, the Congress youth icon Rahul Gandhi proved the naysayers wrong with a relentless campaign, focussing on the ‘Navsarjan’ of Gujarat and the failure of the so called Gujarat model of Prime Minister Modi.
The campaign saw Rahul travel every nook and corner of Gujarat and saw him tap into the undercurrent of resentment among the farmers over the lack of adequate remuneration for their produce and among traders over the faulty implementation of the Goods and services tax.
The run up to the elections saw enthusiastic public response to the election rallies by Rahul Gandhi across the state as also the lack of crowds at the rallies addressed by BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The campaign by Rahul, coupled with public meetings addressed by renowned economist and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, helped the party to make a strong impact in Gujarat, hitherto considered an ‘impregnable fort’ of the BJP.
The results saw the Congress increasing its tally to 77 seats in the 182 member Gujarat assembly, its highest ever tally in the state in the last over three decades.
Another shot in the arm for the grand old party towards the year end came in the form of the verdict by the special CBI court in the 2G spectrum case, acquitting all the 18 accused in the case including DMK leaders Kanimozhi and A Raja.
Coming as a major embarrassment for the ruling NDA Government at the Centre, the verdict gave a fresh ammunition to the principal opposition party to attack the ruling dispensation which it charged of speaking untruths to the public on the 2G case before the Lok Sabha polls in order to come to power.
Launching a no holds barred attack on the BJP, the Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the whole architecture of the BJP was about lies be it the 2G case, the deposition of RS 15-lakh in bank account of every Indian or the Gujarat model.
The Congress working committee also attacked the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of maligning the party based on lies on the 2G case in a bid to come to power.
The highlight of the year for the Congress undoubtedly was Rahul Gandhi coming into his own as a leader. His speeches at the university of Cambridge and at gatherings of NRIs during his visit to the United states evoked a lot of appreciation there as well as in India.
During one of his speeches, Rahul said that he views India not as a piece of land but as a set of ideas and anybody who has the ideas that make up India is an Indian.
That Rahul has during this year come across as a leader to reckon with is evident from the increasing maturity that comes across in his interactions with the party workers and the public in his campaign rallies and in his frequent posts on the social media.
Rahul, who assumed the office of Congress party chief on December 16, is today being increasingly viewed seriously by the BJP. In the recent Gujarat elections, Rahul targeted Prime Minister Modi in campaign rallies as well as on the social media .
This is also reflected in the increase of his Twitter following to 4.71-million. The recent months have seen the BJP field senior ministers to respond to the charges made by him against the ruling party.
Congress leaders feel that the improved performance by the Congress in Gujarat and in the local body polls in states like Rajasthan is a reflection of the dynamic leadership provided by Rahul in recent months. His interventions on the social media are also more frequent.
The improved performance by Congress in Gujarat has only reaffirmed the faith of the Congress party in Rahul’s leadership. It has also set the stage for the Congress to take on the ‘ Modi Juggernaut’ in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Rahul’s elevation set off speculation of retirement of his mother and outgoing party president Sonia Gandhi from politics, especially after Mrs Gandhi, when asked about her role after Rahul’s elevation, said that her job was to retire.
The party, however, clarified that Mrs Gandhi was retiring as congress president and not from politics. The year, however, saw Mrs Sonia Gandhi taking a backseat with campaigns for the assembly elections in various states, from Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand to Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat witnessing Rahul playing a predominant role.
In organisational affairs too, it was Rahul who chaired meetings with congress units in several states. Another reason for Mrs Gandhi taking a less active role in party affairs was her poor health.
In May, Mrs Gandhi was hospitalised for food poisoning. She underwent a shoulder surgery in the Sir Ganga Ram hospital. Her poor health her to travel to the US in August for surgery where Mrs Gandhi underwent a successful surgery at New York’s Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre.
In October, Mrs Sonia Gandhi was rushed back to Delhi from Shimla, where she was on a holiday, and admitted to hospital.with a stomach infection.
The year began on a disappointing note for the party as despite an extensive campaign in Uttar Pradesh during the elections by Rahul and the party’s alliance with the Samajwadi Party, the party was reduced to seven seats in the 403 member state assembly with the BJP returning to power in the state after more than two decades and winning an overwhelming 312 seats.
The party also lost power in the hilly state of Uttarakhand. Further, the party failed to form a government in Goa and Manipur despite being the single largest party in these states.
The only silver lining for the Congress came in the form of the party managing to snatch power from the BJP-SAD alliance in Punjab. Under the leadership of Capt Amarinder Singh, the Congress managed to stave off a challenge from the Aam Aadmi Party, which claimed to have a strong wave in its favour in several pockets, to secure a comprehensive win in Punjab, winning 78 seats in the state assembly.
The loss in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand was followed by a poor show in the MCD polls in Delhi. Fighting the polls under the leadership of Mr Ajay Maken, the Congress found itself relegated to the third spot behind the BJP and AAP in the three MCDs.
Even as political observers, after the poor show by the party in the UP and Uttarakhand assembly polls and the subsequent MCD elections, said that the Congress did not look to be in a position to pose a challenge to the BJP in the 2019 general elections. let alone the Gujarat assembly polls, the party continued with its efforts to forge a unified opposition front against the BJP in the coming assembly elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The elections for the post of President and the vice President saw the Congress and the other opposition parties like the Samajwadi Party, the BSP, the NCP, the Left parties, the All India Trinamool Congress and others to provide a strong challenge to the BJP.
Though the Congress-led opposition front was taken unawares by the NDA’s announcement of Mr Ram Nath Kovind as its nominee, it soon announced former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as its joint candidate against Mr Kovind.
Subsequently , the opposition nominated Gopal K Gandhi, the great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, as its nominee for the Vice Presidential polls to contest against the NDA nominee M Venkaiah Naidu. Though both Ms Meira Kumar and Mr Gandhi lost by a big margin to the NDA candidates, the Congress said fielding them was a part of its efforts build a unified opposition front ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The poll for the Rajya Sabha seat in Gujarat , from where senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel was contesting, saw a close fight between the Congress and the BJP after 14 of the Congress MLAs quit the party ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections. In a nail biting contest, which saw a ‘war of the nerves’ between the Congress and the BJP, which pulled out all stops to prevent the Congress win, Mr Ahmed Patel managed to get reelected thanks to the EC barring the 14 defected MLA from voting in the polls.
Enthused by the win of Mr Ahmed Patel in the face of what it called the blatant use of ‘money’ and ‘muscle’ power by the BJP for the elections, the Congress geared itself up to meet the BJP challenge in the Gujarat assembly polls. (AGENCIES)
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