In the past few months, especially after the Congress registered a victory in the assembly elections in Karnataka in May, there was a spring in the step of Congress leaders and workers. The party approached the assembly elections in November with confidence and what it felt was a winning formula it derived from Karnataka.
A win in Telangana, however, has been overshadowed by the party's wipeout in the three Hindi heartland states-Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. With just months to go for the Lok Sabha elections, the defeat in the three states comes as a huge dampener for the principal opposition party, raising serious questions about its electoral strategy to counter the BJP.
The Congress had hoped to win at least two of the heartland states. It was confident of holding on to Chhattisgarh, hopeful of wresting Madhya Pradesh and was trying to beat the revolving door politics of Rajasthan to stay in power. Having a foothold in the region would have provided the party with a much-needed morale booster in the Lok Sabha polls. However, the party finds its national footprint greatly diminished. In the Hindi belt, it is in power only in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh. Its other two states, Karnataka and Telangana, are down south. It is a junior ally in the ruling alliances in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Bihar.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 17, 2023 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 17, 2023 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
