It’s high time Modi should take Congress seriously

Tanushree Poddar: The Congress’s dull performance at the hustings ever since it suffered a humiliating defeat in the last Lok Sabha elections was a big question mark on the political future of Rahul Gandhi but it looks like the tables may turn around this year.

According to a media report, highest number of voters have turned out this year. Every state in India except West Bengal (which had not completed polling), Sikkim, and Nagaland has seen an increase in voter turnout. If we further assume that the anti-Congress/pro-Modi fervour is behind this surge and carries the BJP to a national popular vote share of 33%, then we can give BJP an aggressive 210 seats.

Several regional leaders did not like the idea of Rahul being projected as the prime ministerial candidate of an opposition alliance. The failure of the Congress to ally with Mayawati’s BSP in these elections as an indicator of regional leaders refusing to accept Rahul’s leadership.

The Congress victory will also give Rahul a convincing plank for the next Lok Sabha campaign. His focus on farmer issues will gain credibility after the Congress performance in the agriculture-dominated states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The Congress victory will be seen as Rahul’s campaign rhetoric resonating with farmers.

There is no certainty how much the assembly election results will influence the next Lok Sabha elections. But what is certain is that PM Modi is going to face a strong challenger in Rahul Gandhi, possibly with a number of regional parties flanking him.

The good show put up by the Congress in the assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been established as the main challenger of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections next year.