new Delhi: The results of the assembly elections of five states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, added another chapter of electoral failure in the account of former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, and for the first time among the public as an active leader. The magic of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who arrived was also ineffective.
While Rahul Gandhi mainly took the front of the election campaign in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, the party in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka took full command of the election campaign in the state. Priyanka Gandhi addressed 209 public meetings in Uttar Pradesh and participated in many roadshows and digital programmes, while Rahul Gandhi also addressed several public meetings in electoral states.
Rahul had resigned from the post of President after the defeat of Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Even after this, he continued to play his role as the main face of the party and the leader of the election campaign and during this time the Congress had many failures and some successes.
After the Lok Sabha elections, the party performed well in the assembly elections held in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand. She also became a part of coalition governments in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. In the Delhi Assembly elections of the year 2020, the account of Congress did not even open. In the Bihar assembly elections too, the Congress got only 19 seats, while it contested 70 seats in alliance with the RJD.
Last year, the Congress’ performance in the assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry was also disappointing. After the defeat in these states, the opponents raised questions on the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. On the other hand, Priyanka Gandhi, who entered active politics in the year 2019, campaigned vigorously in an election for the first time. Crowds also came to his meetings, although it did not show its effect in the results of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Experts say that this election result is a big blow to the political image of Priyanka Gandhi along with Rahul Gandhi.
Writer and senior journalist Rashid Kidwai says, “The Congress created a Dalit chief minister in Uttar Pradesh in the form of Charanjit Singh Channi, but the experiment failed. Similarly, Priyanka Gandhi’s presence in Uttar Pradesh also remained ineffective. This raises a question mark. They are losing their credibility in the Congress family.”
He said that not only the leaders of the ‘G23’ group who wrote letters to Sonia Gandhi, the faith of the common workers of Congress is also losing their faith in Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. Jawaharlal Nehru University Professor Sanjay K. Pandey says that the current situation is very bad for the Congress and it has given a blow to the image of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
He said such an outcome would give strength to the leaders of ‘G23’ and other opponents of the Gandhi family. Significantly, the Congress lost power in Punjab and its performance in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur was also disappointing.