WHAT NEXT FOR THE CONGRESS?

The Eknath Shinde government not only announced the Ladli Behna scheme on the eve of the state polls (in August this year) but also managed to deliver three tranches including a Diwali bonus before the elections were declared.

- PRIYA SAHGAL

The Maharashtra results have dealt a sharp blow to the Congress party's morale which had seen a short burst of revival post the Lok Sabha results.

The election in Haryana where the Congress failed to wrest the state away from the BJP could have been written off as an aberration but after the Maharashtra debacle, it does seem as if the Lok Sabha polls were a one off.

There have been many editorials post Maharashtra bemoaning the state of the Congress, from its failed local leadership model to the ineffective Central leadership.

For its failure to put together an effective narrative to counter the BJP as they had managed to do in the Lok Sabha.