Sonia Gandhi speaks as her son, Rahul Gandhi, watches during a news conference in New Delhi yesterday.

IANS/New Delhi

The results in the four Hindi heartland states yesterday came as a shocking blow to the Congress and led its lead campaigner Rahul Gandhi to admit to the need of transforming the party.

Analysts said the results have raised questions about Rahul Gandhi’s political strategy and skills to sway voters.

The rude shock to the Congress comes just six months ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election. The party, which leads the ruling United Progressive Alliance at the centre, not only lost its governments in Delhi and Rajasthan but the margin of its defeat left party sympathisers bewildered.

The Congress was reduced to single-digit in Delhi at the hands of Bharatiya Janata Party and the debutant Aam Aadmi Party. It was badly thrashed in Rajasthan and won less than one-fourth of its tally in 2008 elections.

In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress margin of defeat increased over the last election and in Chhattisgarh the party again fell short of simple majority.

Rahul Gandhi, 43, who became party vice-president in January this year, was both the lead campaigner and key strategist of the party for the assembly polls. The polls to four states were his first big electoral test in his new role and had Bharatiya Janata Party as the main adversary.

The BJP leads the rival national alliance which is the main adversary of the Congress for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Rahul Gandhi addressed the largest number of rallies among party campaigners and played a role in selection of candidates for the polls. In his rallies, Gandhi sought to identify his party with the poor and pitch-forked its role in getting legislations on food security and land acquisition passed.

The Congress sought to downplay comparisons of Gandhi to Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in the media but the effort did not appear to succeed. Modi was direct in his attack on Rahul Gandhi while the Congress leader avoided returning fire in the same vein.

Political commentator S Nihal Singh said the Congress leaders would try to shield Rahul Gandhi from the party’s debacle but there was question about his strategy for the future.

 

Time for introspection: Sonia

IANS/New Delhi

Congress president Sonia Gandhi said her party’s defeat in the assembly elections called for “deep introspection” and it would study “the many reasons for this defeat”.

The Congress scored 0-4 in the assembly poll results announced in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

Congratulating her “opponents” for winning in the four states, a sombre Sonia told the media she was “very, very disappointed” with the election results. “This result calls for deep introspection,” she said. “We have to understand to look at the many reasons for this defeat. We have to look into the way we did not take our message to the people.

“Also, we have to look at our own party if it is well equipped in running an election (campaign).”

Sonia admitted “many people were obviously unhappy (with the Congress). Otherwise there would not have been such results”. She said rising prices of essential commodities was an issue with the electorate. “We will introspect seriously and we will take all necessary action ... We will rectify our mistakes.”

Sonia expressed confidence the results of assembly polls will not have a bearing on the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. “General elections are quite different. People in state elections do focus on personality at the state level, at leaders who are likely to lead them,” she said. However, in national elections, “people look at the person who is likely to guide them and govern them at the national level”, the Congress chief said.