Nov 14, 2011: Rahul Gandhi kicked off the Congress campaign with a faux pass.At a rally in Phulpur, he asked the youth how long they would go on begging for jobs in Punjab and Maharashtra. This bommeranged.
Nov 2011: Rahul Gandhi mocked the BJP's "India Shining" slogan. Not only was this an old slogan dating back to 2004 Lok Sabha elections, but the BJP was not even a key player in Uttar Pradesh. This totally confused the voters.
Dec 18, 2011: Form development, Rahul suddenly began to talk caste. At a rally for MBCs, he told the crowd that tech icon Sam Pitroda was a Vishwakarma (carpenter). This exposed Congress as being a casteist party.
Feb 06, 2012: At a press conference in Varanasi, Rahul stated that his party would not support either SP / BSP. Congress leaders such as Digvijaya Singh and Sriprakash Jaiswal raised the spectre of Governor's Rule. This only added votes to the SP kitty.
Feb 06, 2012: Robert Vadra announced his desire to contest elections. That, along with the sight of his two children on the campaign trail, perpetuated the myth of a dynastic right to rule. Congress won only two of the 10 seats from Amethi-Rae Bareli.
Deb 16, 2012: At a rally in Lucknow, Rahul Gandhi tore up apiece of paper. What he wanted to convey was anger at tall poll promises. What he did convey was disrespect for his rivals.
This is the weakest that Congress has been since Narashima Rao lost the elections in 1996. Uttar Pradesh where the Congress vote dropped by 7%, is not the only tale in town. Equally lacerating is Punjab, where Congress began to celebrate long before the votes were cast. The Akali-BJP alliance actually increased its vote: among Hindu Dalits, Hindu OBCs, Sikh OBCs and Sikh Dalits. Dr. Manomhan Singh, the first Sikh PM, has lost Punjab twice to the Akalis. (the first time could have been carelessness; the second time is punishment) Mrs. Gandhi has lost all Assembly seats in Rae Bareli, despite the continual presence of Priyanka Gandhi, internally touted as a bigger campaign star than brother Rahul Gandhi. Earlier this year Home Minister P. Chidambaram was in Tamil Nadu, and cannot be sure of re-election in his own seat. S.M. Krishna, the external affairs minister, is at a dead-end in Karnataka. A.K. Antony, the defence minister, is at a tipping edge in Kerala.
Rahul Gandhi has blamed the party infrastructure for the UP defeat, but has he looked at the structure at the top? Not a single congress heavyweight is heavy enough to lift his own state, or even a party thereof. Congress might claim it has jailed a corrupt minister (A. Raja) but it is quite forgot to arrest its chief minister in Goa, who has been sentenced by voters to long exile.
The defeat congress (Rahul's magic) would be big happy for the following politicians:-
- Mamata Banerjee
- Jayalalithaa
- Nitish Kumar
- Jagmohan Reddy
- Chandrababu Naidu
- Naveen patnaik
- Prakash Karat
- Nitin Gadkari
- Mulayam Signh Yadav
- Mayawati
- Prakash Singh Badal
- Om Prakash Chautala
- M. karunanidhi
The number of politicians opposing the policies of the Congress led UPA-II is increasing daily. The big question is how the Congress is going to face them in Parliament, and also in the upcoming Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections?
