Vote of anger

The heavy losses suffered by India’s ruling Congress Party, in four out of five states where elections were held on March 6, sends out a strong message. It is a reflection of the people’s anger with the governance of a party under which there has been rampant inflation, economic decline and multiple accusations of unfettered corruption. A warning sign has been put out for the Congress, with these polls being considered crucial in terms of the general election due to take place in 2014. Ahead of that, there is much for the party to worry and ponder over, especially by the 41-year-old Congress party scion Rahul Gandhi, who spearheaded the campaign.

This is all the more worrying, as the Congress fared extremely poorly even in its traditional stronghold of Uttar Pradesh, which is the home state of the Gandhis. Even in the Rai Bareilly and Amethi constituencies, the family’s home base, the party lost eight out of the ten seats contested, even though all these were thought to be safe seats. The left-leaning Samajwadi party — led by the UP Chief Minister Mulayam, who is a Dalit— won in UP. Her political success is, of course, in itself a sign of major change in India. Many Muslim voters backed the party, essentially since it is seen as a key rival to the Bharitya Janata Party (BJP), with its strongly communal Hindu agenda. In Punjab, another crucial state in terms of politics, the Akali Dal, a Sikh party, claimed 56 out of 117 seats, leaving the Congress with 46 seats. The state of Uttarakhand in the Himalayan foothills was lost narrowly to the BJP, the latter also comfortably claiming Goa. The Congress was, however, able to hold on to the small state of Manipur.

The party has conceded that it has a lot of thinking to do. Much of it will need to be done by Rahul Gandhi, the man seen as a future prime minister and party leader, who had campaigned with great vigour by personally visiting constituencies across the country for these elections. The losses suffered by the Congress party sheds light on dynastic politics: has the Gandhi hold over India been broken?

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2012.

Correction: An earlier version of the article incorrectly mentioned "Mayawati" as Samajwadi party leader instead of "Mulayam". The error has been rectified.