The latest round of assembly polls have brought the Congress no reason to cheer. The assessment that the party is in an uncontrolled downward spiral, staring at an existential crisis and fast losing national relevance, has gained further strength.
As West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee single-handedly fought and retained the state, several Congress leaders congratulated her, apparently taking solace in the BJP failing in its mighty gambit. The flip side of the poll outcome in West Bengal, however, was that the Congress failed to win even a single seat, and its vote share plummeted to three per cent.
The Congress failed to wrest back Assam from the BJP and lost Puducherry. The biggest setback for it was in Kerala, where the circumstances favoured the Congress—given the revolving door nature of elections in the state, and where it had made a near clean sweep in the Lok Sabha polls in 2019—and yet it failed. The only bright spot was Tamil Nadu, where the party won 18 of the 25 seats it contested, but it benefited from the pro-DMK sentiment in the state.
Of the 14 assembly polls that have taken place since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has managed to form governments in only three states —Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu. But it is a junior partner in these three states. On its own, it is in power only in Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh.
この記事は THE WEEK の May 16, 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は THE WEEK の May 16, 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
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.
