Hyderabad: During the run-up to the Assembly elections in Gujarat, the low-key campaign and rare presence of top Congress leaders in the State sparked speculations that Congress has lost all hope of returning to power in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although Congress refuted it claiming that they were focusing more on door-to door campaigning instead of holding major rallies.
But with the BJP having already bagged 32 seats, leading in 124 others and heading for a record victory it becomes evident that Congress's so-called 'silent campaign' has failed to generate the desired response from voters.
The grand old party which put up a spirited fight in the 2017 Assembly elections winning 77 seats and keeping the BJP limited to 99 seats, is facing the prospect of it worst ever performance in the State where in 1985 it registered a record tally of 149 seats, a record set to be broken by the BJP today.
Congress is leading in paltry 16 seats and won two seats as of now. Back then the grand old party capitalized on the KHAM social equation-Koli Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi and Muslim-but this time several factors such BJP's high pitch campaign blitzkrieg, the Modi factor, lack of campaigning by heavyweight party leaders along with the entry of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) seems to have dealt a severe blow to Congress' prospect.
Even though it is unlikely that the AAP will make any significant impact on the outcome of the Gujarat Assembly elections this time, Arvind Kejriwal's party has definitely surged ahead of Congress in terms of visibility during campaigning. As per Election Commission figures till 12 pm Congress's vote share stands at 26.9 per cent and that of AAP ay 12 per cent.
The Congress leadership dodged a direct response to the party's poll debacle in Gujarat. Party spokesperson Pawan Khera said " Gujarat is a big state. Let the trends become clear, then we will able to comment on it."
Factionalism in the party seems to have taken a toll on Congress in Gujarat. The grand old party seems to be directionless in the state ever since the death of Ahmed Patel in 2020. The apparent apathy of top leaders such as Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi with campaigning in the State and being preoccupied with the Bharat Jodo Yatra seems to have added to the party's woes in the State.
