Rahul loses pappu tag, emerges ’19 challenger

Despite a defeat in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls, new Congress president Rahul Gandhi has emerged as a main challenger to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 2019.

Given the fact that Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, the gain for Congress could be seen as the Gandhi scion becoming a key challenger to the to Mr Modi.

Not only has the Congress increased its tally in Gujarat but has seen a significant increase in its vote percentage. The increase in the tally has also enthused the cadres of the party.

The last three months have seen Mr Gandhi aggressively campaign in Gujarat.

Surprisingly, he was also setting the agenda for the political narrative in the state with the BJP responding. Hitherto it has always been the BJP at the forefront and the Congress following suit.

Social media that has been the bastion of saffronites was also being dominated by Congress handles. Mr Gandhi has been effectively challenging Mr Modi on Twitter. His one question a day to the Prime Minister saw gaining traction.

Usually termed as a reluctant politician the new Congress President steadfastly stayed on course during the entire campaign. He made sixteen trips to Gujarat for campaigning.

Not falling trap to the Pakistan, minority insinuations by the BJP Mr Gandhi stuck to the issues of agrarian distress, unemployment, rural distress and problems being faced by small and medium traders. His visits to temples referred to as temple run helped the Congress to shed off pro-minority visits though it kept channels open with the minority community.

FOR RAHUL Gandhi, religion is faith, not politics. This is the difference from the BJP. Congress chief spokesperson 149 seats 1985 33 seats 1990 45 seats 1995 51 seats 2002 59 seats 2007 RANDEEP SURJEWALA, 61 seats 2012 80 seats 2017