TELANGANA MIZORAM

A good show in Gujarat galvanised an otherwise demoralised Congress cadre, established his leadership and also silenced his detractors within the party. Since then, there has been no looking back. He led the charge in Karnataka and also in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. In May, Gandhi’s swift move in Karnataka made sure the BJP would have to sit in the opposition benches despite emerging as the single-largest party. As results started trickling in, he offered the chief ministership to the Janata Dal (Secular) as the Congress, which was ruling Karnataka, stopped well short of the majority mark. The sudden formation of the Congress-jd(s) coalition stunned the BJP.

In 2019, Gandhi faces two key challenges.

First, he will have to revive the Congress in key states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and West Bengal, where it has lost its political space.

Reconnecting with the middle class, the youth and the common people, who appeared disillusioned with the Congress, seems to figure on Gandhi’s agenda.

Second, he will have to bring the influential opposition parties, including the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), on one platform. The two key parties in the politically important state of Uttar Pradesh have so far refused to play ball.

With three months remaining for the Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi has to firm up state-specific alliances to prevent division of the opposition vote that would help the BJP.