WIN_181211-RAHUL-(Read-Only)
Rahul Gandhi, President of India's main opposition Congress party, greets his supporters as he arrives to attend a news conference at his party's headquarters in New Delhi, India, December 11, 2018. Image Credit: Reuters

New Delhi: Exactly a year after he was elected president of Congress, Rahul Gandhi has steered his party to election victories in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and possibly in Madhya Pradesh where the party was in neck-and-neck race with the ruling BJP through the day.

After a disastrous loss in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and a series of defeats in subsequent Assembly elections, the current results will be the first outright victory for the Congress in a direct contest against the BJP and is expected to be a morale booster for the party as it gears up to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in next year’s general elections.

Gandhi was elected president of the party unopposed last year on December 11 at the culmination of the party’s organisational elections. He took over from his mother Sonia Gandhi who had helmed the country’s oldest party for 19 long years.

Gandhi has effected changes both organisationally and in the way it approached election campaigns. The party’s outreach now combines the conventional way of campaigning with an active presence on social media. It has been vociferously taking up issues against the Narendra Modi government and immediately reacts to issues.

Gandhi has also been campaigning extensively in election bound states, holding rallies, road shows and press conferences. He has also been tweeting regularly, where he sharply attacks Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a range of issues including alleged corruption, jobs, demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax.

Congress’ Rajasthan chief Sachin Pilot recalled that Rahul Gandhi was elected party chief on the day the party is poised to snatch three Hindi heartland states from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“Today is a decisive day and Rahul Gandhi became Congress chief on the same day last year. And what can be a better gift than the party forming its governments in three BJP-ruled states,” Pilot said.

A good leader must understand the aspirations of people and Gandhi has been learning from his past mistakes, said political analyst Sushila Ramaswamy

“It was not that Rahul Gandhi was not prepared before. A good leader must be connected to the people and know what their aspirations are,” said Ramaswamy, who teaches at Delhi University’s Jesus and Mary College.

The result of the elections in the three states is likely to help the Congress re-energise party workers, who have been demoralised by a string of electoral defeats in a number of states, including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Assam.

The outcome is also seen as a validation of Gandhi’s leadership as he was mocked regularly by the BJP following a string of electoral defeats since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

“It is a good performance by Rahul Gandhi but it is not a decisive performance. He could have done better in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The election results will give a boost to opposition’s preparations for 2019 polls,” said Manisha Priyam of the Centre for Advocacy and Research.

According to the political analyst, Gandhi’s success as a leader in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls will depend on how he takes along other opposition parties in forming a formidable alliance to take on Modi.

“He has taken Modi head on and has been successful in touching base with rural India,” Priyam said.