The results of the Assembly elections to five states have sounded a near-death knell to the Congress, which appears to have lost Punjab – one of just three states where it is in power.
Its hope of forming the government in Uttarakhand also received a bitter blow, with the grand old party leading in just 24 seats, compared to the BJP's 42, which is above the majority mark of 36.
While the Congress may officially remain a 'national party', its defeats in what is considered the semifinals for the Lok Sabha polls raises questions about its credentials to be a part of the Opposition front against BJP being forged for the 2024 general elections.
In Punjab, starting from the ouster of Amarinder Singh as chief minister, the constant bickering by state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu with Captain and his successor Charanjit Singh Channi and factionalism rife in the party could have led to its downfall in the state. From clinching 77 seats in 2017, the Congress now currently leads in just 18.
In Uttarakhand's Lalkuwa, former CM Harish Rawat trails the BJP candidate by nearly 14,000 votes and could be staring at a loss. While leading in 24 seats is perhaps a sign of improvement from the 11 seats it won in 2017, the result is however a second straight loss in the hill state. It gives BJP the credit of becoming the first party to retain power in Uttarakhand.
The situation in Uttar Pradesh is abysmal, with the party leading in a lone seat and possibly on the way to its worst performance in the state. It had claimed a mere seven seats in the previous elections.
In Goa too, the Congress appears to have performed worse than in 2017, leading in 10 and clinched one seat, as compared to BJP's lead in 19 seats.
Manipur is no better with the party and its allies leading in just nine seats in the 70-seat Assembly.
The incoming results only give further weight to Trinamool Congress' (TMC) scathing attacks on the Sonia Gandhi-helmed party from the latter half of 2021. The TMC had in September called the Congress an "irrelevant, rotting puddle", later said that it was in a "deep freezer" and also charged that it was only limited to the Twitter space.
It could also change the way the party's alliance partners in Maharashtra (Shiv Sena, NCP) and Tamil Nadu (DMK, VCK) view it. Whether the Left parties who had allied with Congress — in West Bengal and Assam last year and in Manipur this year — also change their stance towards the grand old party, remains to be seen.
The Congress, it appears, is drowning in the marauding saffron wave.
Check out latest DH videos here
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels | Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks