Apropos Zero Worship (March 19), you quote Pune University professor Suhas Palshikar as saying, “It was beyond one man to rebuild the Congress in UP on the eve of a poll”. But Rahul has been trying to rebuild the Congress in UP for more than two years now. Just face it—he failed, even in his own constituency.

Rupjyoti Bhagawati, Pune

With due apologies to Ernest Hemingway:

The son also rises, the son also sets,
And hastens to the place from which he rose. One generation goes, another comes, And so it goes on forever.

Gullapalli V.S., on e-mail

As long as Rahul has Digvijay Singh, Salman Khurshid and Kapil Sibal as mentors, the agenda will focus more on the minorities and governance by handouts than development.

S. Madhekar, on e-mail

Thank God, Rahul failed. Else we’d have had fawning headlines like ‘Rahul the Messiah’ and ‘Rahul the Future of India’.

S.S. Nagaraj, Bangalore

Rahul Gandhi is naive, and that’s what stands exposed.

Karavadi Raghava Rao, Vijayawada

That Rahul stuck his neck out and slogged only increases his respectability.

Kumar, Bangalore

The assembly poll results only show that people are disgusted with the Gandhi family’s governance by proxy and power without responsibility.

J.S. Acharya, Hyderabad

The Nehru-Gandhi family has not allowed any independent leaders to rise, killing the party in the process. If the recent election results indicate the end of dynastic rule, this will hopefully change.

Vithal, on e-mail

It would have been better had Rahul started small and focused on a few constituencies like Amethi, Rae Bareli and others around there. It would have given him the confidence and the experience to take on bigger fights.

Venkatesh G. Iyer, Chennai

The failure of Rahul and his team to revive the Congress in UP shows why it is important to build grassroots leaders and strengthen the party organisation at the state, district, taluka and village level. A surname won’t fetch votes.

Pramod Srivastava, Delhi

Rahul stands completely exposed for his well-meaning, but ineffective agenda. The best thing about the outcome though is that we won’t have to suffer Digvijay’s dangerous and relentless bunkum anymore.

S. Bengani, on e-mail

Rahul is an example of how sycophants and the media combine to create “gold” out of hot air.

G. Natrajan, Hyderabad

A fall from the sky is sure to cause serious injury. Rahul worked hard, but could not establish contact with the people. The big bosses of his party did not know how to go about campaigning in UP, so they let Rahul Baba do what he wanted. And he revelled in missteps, one after the other. Very soon, the Congress may become a historical monument.

M.K. Somanatha Panicker, Manappuram, Kerala

I am neither a fan of the Congress or dynastic politics; nor do I have any love for Mulayam Singh Yadav and his brand of politics. But I have a feeling Akhilesh Yadav will do for Uttar Pradesh what Nitish Kumar has done for Bihar.

Pramod, Phoenix, US

Priyanka's nice haircut and Rahul's stubble was all which we got (to see), and not any win, what to call of a big one!

I call upon the readers to comment upon Priyanka's haircut, further.

You have predicted about Goa that the distribution of tickets to a few families is a step, which will make the win of BJP easier, and it happened. Congress was sure to get its turn in Punjab, so the tickets were distributed arbitrarily, and not by some shrewd planning, and while Punjab Congress chief Capt. Amrinder Singh was lazy, the high command was over-confident, and a number of rivals also contested, taking a major chunk of vote share, thereby giving marginal advantage to SAD-BJP alliance, justifying the old story of two monkeys fighting over a breadpiece, with a monkey capturing the same. But, the situation in UP was entirely different. The more we try to understand, the more we get confused. I sometimes feel that defeat in UP can be a blessing in disguise for Congress as during 2014, Congress will not have state-anti-incumbancy factor from UP, which can help it somehow to win some seats from UP. But, politics is a strange game, a game of probabliites. Nothing we can guess!

For those who constantly whine about dynastic succession in congress ad other parties, may be they should now realize that the ultimate power is in the hands of the voters. So if at all a son or daughter or a wife or husband gets elected they have no one o blame but themselves.

Dinesh,

Indeed, the defeat of the Congress in the UP has shocked the media and woken it up out of its slumber. They had built up Rahul and Priyanka up to almost mythical proportions; the Gandhis couldn't put a foot wrong. So much coverage was devoted to them that one would have thought there were no other candidates and parties in the fray. Now that the elections have delivered a resounding slap on the Congress' face and the ascendancy of the BJP (yeah yeah, skeptics will point to the decline in vote share, but what matters is the number of seats and the eventual configuration, doesn't it?) and other parties is a foregone conclusion, expect the media to do a quick U-turn.

We are about to witness a up side down change in the approach of mainstream media. Now they will dump muslim causes in  waste paper baskets and are dying to shake hand with hindus. Yesterday SIT submitted its final report on 2002 riots but there were no headlines on this in daily NewsP. Even TV channels almost kept mum. They have deffered Modi bashing program. So wait and watch. May be saba would be jobless or she will also take a turn around..

"" Congress scripted Samajwadi romp in UP

www.sunday-guardian.com/investigation/cong-scripted-samajwadi-romp-in-up

So Congress worked hard to drive Muslims away from Maya to Mulayam in trying to get their Votes .

I had been crying hoarse that on one hand Muslims are deserting Congress on the other hand a big chunk of Hindus are deserting Secularism due Congress' destructing Communal Politics .

Congress has been the Ruler and presently too is the Ruler of India.Its divisive Politics not only harms Congress but India too .

///In Punjab, while ruling/winning SAD has vote share of 32%, the loser Congress has around 41%. What an irony!///

You get 9% less vote share and still win with majority? Even a naive would not believe. Please first get your statistics correct. with 2-3% difference it is possible but not with 9%. You might have forgotten the vote share of BJP to add with SAD.

Even as the results in the recently held Assembly polls in 5 states have thrown up interesting results, the results in UP and Punjab are clearly stunning and unexpecting, but I shall like to add that while the vote share of almost all the leading parties has decreased in Punjab, it was the SAD, which incidently won at the hustings, has its vote share dented by more than 2%, while that of Congress was reduced by petty .5%. Still, it was SAD-BJP, which got clean sweep and made the govt. My view and advice is to take into account all factors, including the vote share to decide which party wins. In Punjab, while ruling/winning SAD has vote share of 32%, the loser Congress has around 41%. What an irony!

Budget session has begun and Saba's Rahul Baba is on foreign tour. Participation in parliamentary proceedings Rahul and Sonia least bother about. Presnce in cabinet meetings MMS least bothers about.  What a bunch of jokers we have elected (even in RS).

Dear Gambler

who told you Rahul has an MBA?

I mean there are rumours, truth, allegations but  nothing definitive about his education.

no-vice (sic!)

no-why's

no-voice (stuck dumb?)

 I recollect a very old anecdote that I read

There was a rich boy, when he was once asked to write an essay on Poor People this is how he went about  "There was a poor boy, his ayah was poor, his chauffeur was poor, his butler was poor ... and so on. Isn't this a picture of Rahul Baba.  

 A good analysis. To the statistical data leading in to the article, please add one more bit I read yesterday:

68% of the congress candidates in the UP   "LOST THEIR DEPOSITS!"

A wonderful commentary on the way congress conducted this election. And yet, if you see and hear the old jaded faces congress sends to the TV studios, you may be pardoned for thinking they have single handedly demolished the BJP and are ruling supreme in Parliament.

You just mention the name of one  tribal terrorist group and all of a sudden outllook's website policy comes in to action. What are you afraid of OUTLOOK?

Rahul lost because of his hypocritical stance on corruption. He had once in a lifetime opportunity to garner the imagination of youth and hope of India. He squandered it by not vociing any opposition to corruption by his party and by not supporting an effective strong Lokpal bill.

Poor Rahul.  He toiled in UP to the best of his ability (or lack there of).  No doubt Rahul needs good Political Science education as he is not a natural born politician.  On the other hand Akhilesh seems like a born politician.  It seems congressional political leaders went out of their way to hurt Rahul's effort by making stupid and immature statements.  Rahul attacking Mayawati for her corruption sounded like 'Pot telling the kittle black'. And here Rahul was promising UP voters that the Congress party would give them a better government and in New Delhi his PM making a statement about shame that some 40 million kids go to sleep hungry in our country as if the Congress party has nothing to do with that shame.

I think Rahulactually did an exemplary job increasing the party's vote percantage  from 11 to 15% & nearly displacing the BJP (voteshare down from 17 to 15%) from its no.3 slot. Some of the upper caste votes of the BJP was directly transferred to the Congres & further a portion of the Muslim vote was also in their favour. The RLD tie-up was also his idea. if he continues his work in this vain he will surely take his party to touch another 4-6% higher before the Parliamentary Elections .....  Though I don'tagree with his policies,this is the bitter truth ...he did his job & did it well, he knows it so does his party & he willremain their standard-bearer in UP.

 VITHGOON

I fully agree with your observation. We all know the Nehru- Gandhi dynasty always behaved like king emperors and to them the electorate is subjects and the greatest regional leaders became mere chieftains that ought to pay regular allegiance to this family for the crumbs of power. In a way the ability of the family to retain this hold for so long as six decades is commendable. These are the days when even the regular Kings are no longer what they once commanded and a pretentious dynasty certainly cannot last with progressive demystification of the aura they once enjoyed thanks to the media blitz.
But here I must say we the Indians also are to blame. Though we are a republic by proclamation our mind set is still feudal and servile to the idea of monarch. All that the dynasty to do was fill the gap and Motilal did a good job at the right time.
After six decades of independence if we are still struggling for drinking water, uninterrupted power, schools and working hospitals no one is to blame except the dynasty which pursued unproductive populist vote bank politics for their own survival rather than country’s progress and we still believe them. That’s the tragedy of India.

 When you drop from the skies.....

"To be born again," sang Rahul Gandhi tumbling from the heavens, "first you have to die. Hoji! Hoji! To land upon the bosomy earth, first one needs to fly. Tat-taa! Taka-thun! How to ever smile again, if first you won't cry? How to win the electorate's love, bhaayiyon, without a sigh? Baba, if you want to get born again . . ." Just before dawn one sulltry morning, Holi Day or thereabouts, two real, full-grown, living men (Rahul Baba & Diggy Raja) fell from a great height, twenty-nine thousand and two feet, towards Rae Bareilly, without benefit of parachutes or wings, out of a clear sky.

Rotè hue aate hain sab (was Amul Baba crying when he seemed angry?)

hasta hua jo jayega, (the prince who smilingly abdicates)

woh mukaddar ka sikandar (the winner who quits while he is not ahead)

jaane man kehe laayega (will get our heart-felt thanks)

"Its not a simple lose-UP-lose-all for Rahul"

Fair enough. Drubbing in one or two elections do not mean that he can't come back.

"It was beyond one man to rebuild Congress in UP on the eve of a poll"

Misleading and wrong. Rahul has been trying to rebuild Congress in UP for more than two years now. It's not that he started just a few months before the elctions. Just face it - he failed in UP. He even failed in his own constituency.

The failure of the entire Gandhi clan in mustering an electoral success in UP has convincingly proved that their family- name tags(Robert included) , flying visits, road shows, dining with dalits, declaring tears for Batla House "martyrs", guest appearance by Sam "Vishwakarma" Pitroda and assorted announcements made by Beni Vermas, Khurshids, Digvijays, had absolutely no impact on the voters. Surprisingly, the Congress had not cultivated a local leadership and failed to rejuvenate its organizational structure in UP which could effectively encash the anti-incumbency factors to its benefit. The party thus needs to introspect that the voters, regardless of their caste & religion, cannot merely be convinced to vote by promising sops if returned in power. The citizens expect an involved and inherent leadership which should be available on the spot to address their grievances and seen as standing with them apart from promoting visible development related performance. The party also paid heavy price due to the irresponsible statements made by its responsible central ministers. The Congress leaders need to realise now that the time has changed drastically and gone are the days when the votes could be fetched merely by a Gandhi surname which is evident from the voters’ apathy in Amethi and Raebareli.

I did not see the foresight of the Indian English media (the most pretences class in India) about Rahul & congress before the election.

Now the political analysts (or “St. Steffens’s” Class journalists) are back with all analysis about UP politics.
 

I am no fan of congress and abhor the concept of political dynasty. I hated Mulayam & his brand of politics, but glad that his son is there (It is just a gut feeling that he will do it in UP what Nitish is doing in Bihar). I am from neither from UP or Bihar.

They called Indira “GUGEE GURIYA”. This guy Rahul is “GUNGA & DUMB Buddha” (Not a personnel comment). Nobody knows what he stands for... in political, social or economical spectrum. Gimmicks, such as eating in rural house for one night or travelling in third class railways (I know such class is no longer there) for photos will no longer do the trick and hoping that media coverage will do the trick. It is no more Indira Gandhi’s 1970 that people will fall for slogans like “Garibi hatao”.

Electorates of India have evolved faster than the politician and also “journalists”. Rahul is living in a cocoon and have no chance to figure it out (the real Gandhi made a trip quietly all over India to understand India after chaperon to find the real India); no matter how much Khuswant Sing would like him to be “THE” PM.
 

 Neharu  & his family have systametically removed all independent leaders from the party.Only ye boss & layality to family are allowed.If you carefully lsten to statements from lkes of younger Sindhiya/Piolts(who otherwise seems to be inteligent), you realize that independent identity is not allowed.The fact that Congress is not willing to recognize Narsinhrao's contrinution as PM further reflects this. Congress has never tried to truely unite the country or has any model for development.Let us hope this is the end of this family rule we start seeing some true political leaders coming to the forefront.Lessons for BJP too that they need to have some inteligent & sincere leaders

Even a die hard Congress loyalist like Saba is frustrated with Rahul(the waste) monumental failure in UP.All his dramatics such as dining in Dalit house and making wild claims in Bhatta have proved that people in UP did not trust a thing of what promises he made.Lets all bow before the wisdom of the UP voter.

Saba Rahul has had too many chances.

As a 40 year old, has he ever proposed a single useful idea or plan for this Nation, except for what his speech writers and handlers write for him. Calling him a Dumb or Immature are too soft words to comment on him.

Rahul Gandhi is a Political Naive.H eis expsoing this through out.His Mother atleast will not exhibit her ignorance. Priyanka also exposed her ignornace.Then entered Robert Vadra. What happened all know..

These would have been some of the screaming headlines in our media if Rahul had triumphed.

Rahul the Messiah has arrived,a historic turn for the country.

The days of Rajas and rope tricks are over,Rahul will modernise India.

Awake,Arise, the youth of India.Rahul is here to take you forward.

Rahul the discoverer of India,the only future of India.

Rahul the master strategist,spins out the opposition.

Single handedly Rahul takes Congress to the pinnacle.

etc.

1D

"....should now brace for ‘Marital Honeymoon’ and live happily ever after..."

You must be joking!

Read Meenas anti-male slander in this mag.

Rahul is novice and immature,He did not understand psyche of Indians.That is known better by Akhilesh.Indians are living on hope.show them extravagant hope they run behind you.Just read  manifesto of Akhlesh he had given tremendous promises to people of U.P.He know that promises impossible bring in practice.Indians so blindly believed in promises, they are so credulous  no doubt arises in their mind how these promises came in to practice.Scoundrel politicans know the weakness of Indians..If Rahul  learn these tactics instead of criticizing Maya and Mulayam only give to people extravagant promises he will get success

The standard line is that the Congress debacle in UP is because its organisation in UP failed. Perhaps that is true. But who is responsible for there being little or no organisation in UP - The Party President (Sonia), the Youth Congress President (Rahul), The Gen Secy in Charge (Diggy) or will the State Congress President (Rita Bahuguna) fall on her sword to absolve everyone else of blame.

That Rahul sticked his neck out and slogged, can only increase his respectability. I am sure he know that it is not a cake walk, and that is a good thing. Unfortunately in elections, there is only one vote, which is a yes/no question. There is no first preference, second preference etc. The voter may like two parties/candidates, but is forced to pick one. So one cannot always guage the improvement/change in approval etc only based on results.

>>  UP has elected bigger anti hindu mulla mulaym. this is bad news for hindus.

As if Hindus are a threatened minority! But I agree that the dynamics of what happened in UP still remains to be studied and analyzed.  Celebrating Rahoul's 'embarrassment' does not do it.

i will not rejoice the fact that rahul and his cronie family failed. UP has elected bigger anti hindu mulla mulaym. this is bad news for hindus. big difference between rahul and BJP is, rahul did his best and failed miserably. BJP on the other hand did not even try, and failed miserably.

 Not really germane to this thread, but I'm always amused when I remember how Congress sycophants like Khushwant Singh had praisedSonia Gandhi for staying behind in this country after her husband's murder instead of going off to Italy with her children. Obviously, that praise had been aimed at the hoi polloi who were expected to gasp at the terrific sacrifice shew as making. In reality, of course, in Italy she would have been an utter nonentity, and neither she nor her children would even have been qualified for any but menial jobs. In India they were the de facto royal family. But the feudal worm has turned, and the royal sheen is wearing off. The fault's the Congress'; its feudalism, bling neoliberalism, and incredible levels of corruption were so open that even the Italo-Nehruvian dynasty can't save it.

>> If Rahul would not be a Gandhi, with his MBA degree he would have struggled to get a decent job of 40-50 thousand per month.

If Rahul had not been a Gandhi, he wouldn't have any degrees.

If Rahul would not be a Gandhi, with his MBA degree he would have struggled to get a decent job of 40-50 thousand per month.

But as they say nothing is permanent in this world so is failure. And we all know that one day we might be watching him taking oath as the PM of mighty India.

Until few years ago I had reasonable expectations from Rahul Gandhi. In all his years in politics he could have achieved far more than Sukhbeer or Akhilesh.

But after listening and watching him it seems that only thing he lacks is ‘commonsense’.

I wonder whether he even understands the India. At the age of 42 he can still start with Nehru’s Discovery of India.

His speeches neither have the characteristics of the brilliant oratory skills with great command on language nor the substance. UPA government has actually done some of good things like MNREGA, Right to Education, Right to food and RTI etc but I suspect Rahul has even read these acts. I have noticed in his speech that he has not only failed to bring the fresh and exciting new ideas for the youth but also miserably botched to highlights the good things UPA has done.

And then his inability to understand the changing political atmosphere of this country.

How one can be saved if his Gurus are the likes of DigVijay and junkies Beni Prasad Verma. Does he realize that junkies and sycophants like Beni Prasad, Rajiv Shukla, Salman Khursheed, Kapil Sibbal etc will eventually finish his career pretty soon.

He needs to be more in company with likes of Pranab Mukherjis than political suicide squad of sycophants.

Does he realize that Congress looked like a Muslim League in the UP election? Instead indirectly ‘managing’ media for Dalit trips, he can be more natural, interactive and communicative directly to media, something Akhilesh does.

He should understand that thinking himself as an emperor, like Mayawati did, will bring him more results similar to UP.

But it’s not just Gandhi family but feudal and dynastic system prevails at the every corner of this country which clearly indicates that there is something terribly wrong with Indian mind.

May be with our eternal hypocrisy we all point at the top layer of political dynasties but if one look around him he can find countless examples of nepotisms, favouritism with infinite feudal-dynastic corruption. Clearly India has to walk light years before we can reach somewhere close to the kind of democracy US have.

As long as Rahul is in the company of Digvijay, Salman, Sibbal, Manish etc., and as long as Congress continues its communal agenda (such as Sachchar commission, Ranganath Mishra commission, muslim quota etc.) ignoring real issues and development plank; Congress will continue to suffer humiliating defeats.

The Congress party deserved to lose. No regrets here. It will be a blunder on the part of Congress to let go this opportunity of having a critical self examination of its future in the UP and national politics. If Gandhi family’s charisma is on the wane, it is a good sign for India’s democracy.

Voter has rejected the Para dropping Leaders from Delhi and opted for the grass root workers who knew the problems on the ground.
 

Usual complaints against Saba Naqvi is that she is  a  Congress supporting writer. Wrong-Saba doesn't care for Congress or BJP, she only cares for Islamists. She is an Islamist sympathiser pretending to be a "liberal". 

There is no truth in the rumour going round the New Delhi grape-vine that a certain octagenarian sardar sabotaged Rahul's chances by leaking to media that oil prices would be hiked by Rs. 5/lt. right after the polls. Rahul himself is good enough spoil it all, all by himself.

Has anyone attributed any leadership qualities to Rahul Gandhi, apart from Gandhi Family Worshippers and parts of the media?  Most unbiased observers will be hard pressed to find anything that makes him fit even for a junior minister's post, let alone PM material. Rahul Gandhi is a shining example of how sycophants and the media can make gold out of hot air. The faster our country gets out of such delusions, the better off we will be.

If there was no organisational backing, as learned people like Shiv Viswanathan moan,how did the Congress get 22 LokSabha seats,under Rahul Gandhi's leadership in 2009?Entire credit for that good performance was given to Rahul Gandhi then.More realistic comments are expected from these learned tribe.Congress got just 4 seats in Bihar under his campaigning,and no one can say there was no organisational strength there also.It is high time to respect the discerning power of the common voter which is improving over the elections.

If there was no organisational backing, as learned people like Shiv Viswanathan moan,how did the Congress get 22 LokSabha seats,under Rahul Gandhi's leadership in 2009?Entire credit for this good performance was given to Rahul Gandhi at that time.Realistic comments are expected from these learned tribe.Congress got 4 seats in Bihar under his campaigning,and no one can say there was no organisational strength there.

"Rahul bablog" kii what lag gayi. Aur tho aur aab Akhilesh CM bhi baan gaya.

Problem is we are stuck - Congress/UPA-2 isn't going anywhere (MMS has decided foreign trips are the best medicine for him), BJP as an opposition is super incompetent (could take no advantage of the mess that exists), and a ragtag 3rd front even if it develops will be worse.

Iska matlab, hum sabki what lag gayi kuch saaloon key liye. Kii pharak pardtha hai, mast raho.

Now you will see 'wise-after-the-event' secus crawling out slowly and saying "I told you so".

Here is a photograph- Rahul dines at a Dalit house in Mendhki village, UP- did that man voted for kangres?  The main reason behind his failure is over (mis)use of media.

Sad but inevitable that the Congress Party has become irrelevant in the politically crucial states of UP and Bihar, without whose support, no national party can even dream of forming a government at the centre.

Sad because the inclusive, secular and liberal ideology of the original Congress is what India desperately needs in these troubled times.Inevitable because the Congress Party has drifted far away from its ideological moorings and has become a parody of its former self. Sycophancy, corruption, lack of inner democracy and vote-bank politics have taken its toll.

 BJP, the only other national party, has performed incompetently as an opposition and it doesn't appear as if it could offer the people a viable alternative to the Congress. Looks like the next central government is going to be formed by a third front comprising a bunch of  regional parties who have nothing in common and for whom regional interests take priority over national interests. Unless the two national parties get their act together, the country is in for a prolonged phase of political instability.

>> In other words, what we have really is a lot of smart kids around Rahul

Who are these "smart kids" and by what measure are they smart? Are they considered smart because their daddy was a rich guy, who was able to buy them a good education, or have they demonstrated their smartness by actually achieving something concrete in any field?

Rahul Dravid has retired after failure in Australia.What about Rahul Gandhi after failure  in U.P.?

“It’s not a simple lose-UP-lose-all for Rahul. It was beyond one man to rebuild Congress in UP on the eve of a poll.” -  Suhas Palshikar

The loss of Congress was pre-ordained. This just was not the year for Congress. Outlook's poser "What if he fails?" promised a Greek drama but without any underpinnings.

Rahul Gandhi will do well to take a leaf out of Akhilesh Yadav's book and learn that being a member of a political dynasty is not enough. Winning elections is all about mass contact and being aware of ground realities, something Akhilesh did very well in UP. The truth is that the people of UP saw Akhilesh as a doer who could solve their problems, and Rahul Gandhi as a mere handsome celebrity from Delhi.

 “Since the ‘Political Honeymoon’ of Congress Scion is over, he should now brace for ‘Marital Honeymoon’ and live happily ever after.”

 “Since the ‘Political Honeymoon’ of Congress Scion is over, he should now brace for ‘Marital Honeymoon’ and live happily ever after.”

Rahul Gandhi will do well to take a leaf out of Akhilesh Yadav's book and learn that being a member of a political dynasty is not enough. Winning elections is all about mass contact and being aware of ground realities, something Akhilesh did very well in UP. The truth is that the people of UP saw Akhilesh as a doer who could solve their problems, and Rahul Gandhi as a mere handsome celebrity from Delhi.

“It’s not a simple lose-UP-lose-all for Rahul. It was beyond one man to rebuild Congress in UP on the eve of a poll.” -  Suhas Palshikar

The loss of Congress was pre-ordained. This just was not the year for Congress. Outlook's poser "What if he fails?" promised a Greek drama but without any underpinnings.

Rahul Dravid has retired after failure in Australia.What about Rahul Gandhi after failure  in U.P.?

>> In other words, what we have really is a lot of smart kids around Rahul

Who are these "smart kids" and by what measure are they smart? Are they considered smart because their daddy was a rich guy, who was able to buy them a good education, or have they demonstrated their smartness by actually achieving something concrete in any field?

Sad but inevitable that the Congress Party has become irrelevant in the politically crucial states of UP and Bihar, without whose support, no national party can even dream of forming a government at the centre.

Sad because the inclusive, secular and liberal ideology of the original Congress is what India desperately needs in these troubled times.Inevitable because the Congress Party has drifted far away from its ideological moorings and has become a parody of its former self. Sycophancy, corruption, lack of inner democracy and vote-bank politics have taken its toll.

 BJP, the only other national party, has performed incompetently as an opposition and it doesn't appear as if it could offer the people a viable alternative to the Congress. Looks like the next central government is going to be formed by a third front comprising a bunch of  regional parties who have nothing in common and for whom regional interests take priority over national interests. Unless the two national parties get their act together, the country is in for a prolonged phase of political instability.

Here is a photograph- Rahul dines at a Dalit house in Mendhki village, UP- did that man voted for kangres?  The main reason behind his failure is over (mis)use of media.

Now you will see 'wise-after-the-event' secus crawling out slowly and saying "I told you so".

"Rahul bablog" kii what lag gayi. Aur tho aur aab Akhilesh CM bhi baan gaya.

Problem is we are stuck - Congress/UPA-2 isn't going anywhere (MMS has decided foreign trips are the best medicine for him), BJP as an opposition is super incompetent (could take no advantage of the mess that exists), and a ragtag 3rd front even if it develops will be worse.

Iska matlab, hum sabki what lag gayi kuch saaloon key liye. Kii pharak pardtha hai, mast raho.

If there was no organisational backing, as learned people like Shiv Viswanathan moan,how did the Congress get 22 LokSabha seats,under Rahul Gandhi's leadership in 2009?Entire credit for this good performance was given to Rahul Gandhi at that time.Realistic comments are expected from these learned tribe.Congress got 4 seats in Bihar under his campaigning,and no one can say there was no organisational strength there.

If there was no organisational backing, as learned people like Shiv Viswanathan moan,how did the Congress get 22 LokSabha seats,under Rahul Gandhi's leadership in 2009?Entire credit for that good performance was given to Rahul Gandhi then.More realistic comments are expected from these learned tribe.Congress got just 4 seats in Bihar under his campaigning,and no one can say there was no organisational strength there also.It is high time to respect the discerning power of the common voter which is improving over the elections.

Has anyone attributed any leadership qualities to Rahul Gandhi, apart from Gandhi Family Worshippers and parts of the media?  Most unbiased observers will be hard pressed to find anything that makes him fit even for a junior minister's post, let alone PM material. Rahul Gandhi is a shining example of how sycophants and the media can make gold out of hot air. The faster our country gets out of such delusions, the better off we will be.

There is no truth in the rumour going round the New Delhi grape-vine that a certain octagenarian sardar sabotaged Rahul's chances by leaking to media that oil prices would be hiked by Rs. 5/lt. right after the polls. Rahul himself is good enough spoil it all, all by himself.

Usual complaints against Saba Naqvi is that she is  a  Congress supporting writer. Wrong-Saba doesn't care for Congress or BJP, she only cares for Islamists. She is an Islamist sympathiser pretending to be a "liberal". 

Voter has rejected the Para dropping Leaders from Delhi and opted for the grass root workers who knew the problems on the ground.
 

The Congress party deserved to lose. No regrets here. It will be a blunder on the part of Congress to let go this opportunity of having a critical self examination of its future in the UP and national politics. If Gandhi family’s charisma is on the wane, it is a good sign for India’s democracy.

As long as Rahul is in the company of Digvijay, Salman, Sibbal, Manish etc., and as long as Congress continues its communal agenda (such as Sachchar commission, Ranganath Mishra commission, muslim quota etc.) ignoring real issues and development plank; Congress will continue to suffer humiliating defeats.

Until few years ago I had reasonable expectations from Rahul Gandhi. In all his years in politics he could have achieved far more than Sukhbeer or Akhilesh.

But after listening and watching him it seems that only thing he lacks is ‘commonsense’.

I wonder whether he even understands the India. At the age of 42 he can still start with Nehru’s Discovery of India.

His speeches neither have the characteristics of the brilliant oratory skills with great command on language nor the substance. UPA government has actually done some of good things like MNREGA, Right to Education, Right to food and RTI etc but I suspect Rahul has even read these acts. I have noticed in his speech that he has not only failed to bring the fresh and exciting new ideas for the youth but also miserably botched to highlights the good things UPA has done.

And then his inability to understand the changing political atmosphere of this country.

How one can be saved if his Gurus are the likes of DigVijay and junkies Beni Prasad Verma. Does he realize that junkies and sycophants like Beni Prasad, Rajiv Shukla, Salman Khursheed, Kapil Sibbal etc will eventually finish his career pretty soon.

He needs to be more in company with likes of Pranab Mukherjis than political suicide squad of sycophants.

Does he realize that Congress looked like a Muslim League in the UP election? Instead indirectly ‘managing’ media for Dalit trips, he can be more natural, interactive and communicative directly to media, something Akhilesh does.

He should understand that thinking himself as an emperor, like Mayawati did, will bring him more results similar to UP.

But it’s not just Gandhi family but feudal and dynastic system prevails at the every corner of this country which clearly indicates that there is something terribly wrong with Indian mind.

May be with our eternal hypocrisy we all point at the top layer of political dynasties but if one look around him he can find countless examples of nepotisms, favouritism with infinite feudal-dynastic corruption. Clearly India has to walk light years before we can reach somewhere close to the kind of democracy US have.

If Rahul would not be a Gandhi, with his MBA degree he would have struggled to get a decent job of 40-50 thousand per month.

But as they say nothing is permanent in this world so is failure. And we all know that one day we might be watching him taking oath as the PM of mighty India.

>> If Rahul would not be a Gandhi, with his MBA degree he would have struggled to get a decent job of 40-50 thousand per month.

If Rahul had not been a Gandhi, he wouldn't have any degrees.

 Not really germane to this thread, but I'm always amused when I remember how Congress sycophants like Khushwant Singh had praisedSonia Gandhi for staying behind in this country after her husband's murder instead of going off to Italy with her children. Obviously, that praise had been aimed at the hoi polloi who were expected to gasp at the terrific sacrifice shew as making. In reality, of course, in Italy she would have been an utter nonentity, and neither she nor her children would even have been qualified for any but menial jobs. In India they were the de facto royal family. But the feudal worm has turned, and the royal sheen is wearing off. The fault's the Congress'; its feudalism, bling neoliberalism, and incredible levels of corruption were so open that even the Italo-Nehruvian dynasty can't save it.

i will not rejoice the fact that rahul and his cronie family failed. UP has elected bigger anti hindu mulla mulaym. this is bad news for hindus. big difference between rahul and BJP is, rahul did his best and failed miserably. BJP on the other hand did not even try, and failed miserably.

>>  UP has elected bigger anti hindu mulla mulaym. this is bad news for hindus.

As if Hindus are a threatened minority! But I agree that the dynamics of what happened in UP still remains to be studied and analyzed.  Celebrating Rahoul's 'embarrassment' does not do it.

That Rahul sticked his neck out and slogged, can only increase his respectability. I am sure he know that it is not a cake walk, and that is a good thing. Unfortunately in elections, there is only one vote, which is a yes/no question. There is no first preference, second preference etc. The voter may like two parties/candidates, but is forced to pick one. So one cannot always guage the improvement/change in approval etc only based on results.

The standard line is that the Congress debacle in UP is because its organisation in UP failed. Perhaps that is true. But who is responsible for there being little or no organisation in UP - The Party President (Sonia), the Youth Congress President (Rahul), The Gen Secy in Charge (Diggy) or will the State Congress President (Rita Bahuguna) fall on her sword to absolve everyone else of blame.

Rahul is novice and immature,He did not understand psyche of Indians.That is known better by Akhilesh.Indians are living on hope.show them extravagant hope they run behind you.Just read  manifesto of Akhlesh he had given tremendous promises to people of U.P.He know that promises impossible bring in practice.Indians so blindly believed in promises, they are so credulous  no doubt arises in their mind how these promises came in to practice.Scoundrel politicans know the weakness of Indians..If Rahul  learn these tactics instead of criticizing Maya and Mulayam only give to people extravagant promises he will get success

1D

"....should now brace for ‘Marital Honeymoon’ and live happily ever after..."

You must be joking!

Read Meenas anti-male slander in this mag.

These would have been some of the screaming headlines in our media if Rahul had triumphed.

Rahul the Messiah has arrived,a historic turn for the country.

The days of Rajas and rope tricks are over,Rahul will modernise India.

Awake,Arise, the youth of India.Rahul is here to take you forward.

Rahul the discoverer of India,the only future of India.

Rahul the master strategist,spins out the opposition.

Single handedly Rahul takes Congress to the pinnacle.

etc.

Rahul Gandhi is a Political Naive.H eis expsoing this through out.His Mother atleast will not exhibit her ignorance. Priyanka also exposed her ignornace.Then entered Robert Vadra. What happened all know..

As a 40 year old, has he ever proposed a single useful idea or plan for this Nation, except for what his speech writers and handlers write for him. Calling him a Dumb or Immature are too soft words to comment on him.

Even a die hard Congress loyalist like Saba is frustrated with Rahul(the waste) monumental failure in UP.All his dramatics such as dining in Dalit house and making wild claims in Bhatta have proved that people in UP did not trust a thing of what promises he made.Lets all bow before the wisdom of the UP voter.

Saba Rahul has had too many chances.

 Neharu  & his family have systametically removed all independent leaders from the party.Only ye boss & layality to family are allowed.If you carefully lsten to statements from lkes of younger Sindhiya/Piolts(who otherwise seems to be inteligent), you realize that independent identity is not allowed.The fact that Congress is not willing to recognize Narsinhrao's contrinution as PM further reflects this. Congress has never tried to truely unite the country or has any model for development.Let us hope this is the end of this family rule we start seeing some true political leaders coming to the forefront.Lessons for BJP too that they need to have some inteligent & sincere leaders

I did not see the foresight of the Indian English media (the most pretences class in India) about Rahul & congress before the election.

Now the political analysts (or “St. Steffens’s” Class journalists) are back with all analysis about UP politics.
 

I am no fan of congress and abhor the concept of political dynasty. I hated Mulayam & his brand of politics, but glad that his son is there (It is just a gut feeling that he will do it in UP what Nitish is doing in Bihar). I am from neither from UP or Bihar.

They called Indira “GUGEE GURIYA”. This guy Rahul is “GUNGA & DUMB Buddha” (Not a personnel comment). Nobody knows what he stands for... in political, social or economical spectrum. Gimmicks, such as eating in rural house for one night or travelling in third class railways (I know such class is no longer there) for photos will no longer do the trick and hoping that media coverage will do the trick. It is no more Indira Gandhi’s 1970 that people will fall for slogans like “Garibi hatao”.

Electorates of India have evolved faster than the politician and also “journalists”. Rahul is living in a cocoon and have no chance to figure it out (the real Gandhi made a trip quietly all over India to understand India after chaperon to find the real India); no matter how much Khuswant Sing would like him to be “THE” PM.
 

The failure of the entire Gandhi clan in mustering an electoral success in UP has convincingly proved that their family- name tags(Robert included) , flying visits, road shows, dining with dalits, declaring tears for Batla House "martyrs", guest appearance by Sam "Vishwakarma" Pitroda and assorted announcements made by Beni Vermas, Khurshids, Digvijays, had absolutely no impact on the voters. Surprisingly, the Congress had not cultivated a local leadership and failed to rejuvenate its organizational structure in UP which could effectively encash the anti-incumbency factors to its benefit. The party thus needs to introspect that the voters, regardless of their caste & religion, cannot merely be convinced to vote by promising sops if returned in power. The citizens expect an involved and inherent leadership which should be available on the spot to address their grievances and seen as standing with them apart from promoting visible development related performance. The party also paid heavy price due to the irresponsible statements made by its responsible central ministers. The Congress leaders need to realise now that the time has changed drastically and gone are the days when the votes could be fetched merely by a Gandhi surname which is evident from the voters’ apathy in Amethi and Raebareli.

"Its not a simple lose-UP-lose-all for Rahul"

Fair enough. Drubbing in one or two elections do not mean that he can't come back.

"It was beyond one man to rebuild Congress in UP on the eve of a poll"

Misleading and wrong. Rahul has been trying to rebuild Congress in UP for more than two years now. It's not that he started just a few months before the elctions. Just face it - he failed in UP. He even failed in his own constituency.

 When you drop from the skies.....

"To be born again," sang Rahul Gandhi tumbling from the heavens, "first you have to die. Hoji! Hoji! To land upon the bosomy earth, first one needs to fly. Tat-taa! Taka-thun! How to ever smile again, if first you won't cry? How to win the electorate's love, bhaayiyon, without a sigh? Baba, if you want to get born again . . ." Just before dawn one sulltry morning, Holi Day or thereabouts, two real, full-grown, living men (Rahul Baba & Diggy Raja) fell from a great height, twenty-nine thousand and two feet, towards Rae Bareilly, without benefit of parachutes or wings, out of a clear sky.

Rotè hue aate hain sab (was Amul Baba crying when he seemed angry?)

hasta hua jo jayega, (the prince who smilingly abdicates)

woh mukaddar ka sikandar (the winner who quits while he is not ahead)

jaane man kehe laayega (will get our heart-felt thanks)

 VITHGOON

I fully agree with your observation. We all know the Nehru- Gandhi dynasty always behaved like king emperors and to them the electorate is subjects and the greatest regional leaders became mere chieftains that ought to pay regular allegiance to this family for the crumbs of power. In a way the ability of the family to retain this hold for so long as six decades is commendable. These are the days when even the regular Kings are no longer what they once commanded and a pretentious dynasty certainly cannot last with progressive demystification of the aura they once enjoyed thanks to the media blitz.
But here I must say we the Indians also are to blame. Though we are a republic by proclamation our mind set is still feudal and servile to the idea of monarch. All that the dynasty to do was fill the gap and Motilal did a good job at the right time.
After six decades of independence if we are still struggling for drinking water, uninterrupted power, schools and working hospitals no one is to blame except the dynasty which pursued unproductive populist vote bank politics for their own survival rather than country’s progress and we still believe them. That’s the tragedy of India.

I think Rahulactually did an exemplary job increasing the party's vote percantage  from 11 to 15% & nearly displacing the BJP (voteshare down from 17 to 15%) from its no.3 slot. Some of the upper caste votes of the BJP was directly transferred to the Congres & further a portion of the Muslim vote was also in their favour. The RLD tie-up was also his idea. if he continues his work in this vain he will surely take his party to touch another 4-6% higher before the Parliamentary Elections .....  Though I don'tagree with his policies,this is the bitter truth ...he did his job & did it well, he knows it so does his party & he willremain their standard-bearer in UP.

Poor Rahul.  He toiled in UP to the best of his ability (or lack there of).  No doubt Rahul needs good Political Science education as he is not a natural born politician.  On the other hand Akhilesh seems like a born politician.  It seems congressional political leaders went out of their way to hurt Rahul's effort by making stupid and immature statements.  Rahul attacking Mayawati for her corruption sounded like 'Pot telling the kittle black'. And here Rahul was promising UP voters that the Congress party would give them a better government and in New Delhi his PM making a statement about shame that some 40 million kids go to sleep hungry in our country as if the Congress party has nothing to do with that shame.

Rahul lost because of his hypocritical stance on corruption. He had once in a lifetime opportunity to garner the imagination of youth and hope of India. He squandered it by not vociing any opposition to corruption by his party and by not supporting an effective strong Lokpal bill.

You just mention the name of one  tribal terrorist group and all of a sudden outllook's website policy comes in to action. What are you afraid of OUTLOOK?

 A good analysis. To the statistical data leading in to the article, please add one more bit I read yesterday:

68% of the congress candidates in the UP   "LOST THEIR DEPOSITS!"

A wonderful commentary on the way congress conducted this election. And yet, if you see and hear the old jaded faces congress sends to the TV studios, you may be pardoned for thinking they have single handedly demolished the BJP and are ruling supreme in Parliament.

 I recollect a very old anecdote that I read

There was a rich boy, when he was once asked to write an essay on Poor People this is how he went about  "There was a poor boy, his ayah was poor, his chauffeur was poor, his butler was poor ... and so on. Isn't this a picture of Rahul Baba.  

no-vice (sic!)

no-why's

no-voice (stuck dumb?)

Dear Gambler

who told you Rahul has an MBA?

I mean there are rumours, truth, allegations but  nothing definitive about his education.

Budget session has begun and Saba's Rahul Baba is on foreign tour. Participation in parliamentary proceedings Rahul and Sonia least bother about. Presnce in cabinet meetings MMS least bothers about.  What a bunch of jokers we have elected (even in RS).

Even as the results in the recently held Assembly polls in 5 states have thrown up interesting results, the results in UP and Punjab are clearly stunning and unexpecting, but I shall like to add that while the vote share of almost all the leading parties has decreased in Punjab, it was the SAD, which incidently won at the hustings, has its vote share dented by more than 2%, while that of Congress was reduced by petty .5%. Still, it was SAD-BJP, which got clean sweep and made the govt. My view and advice is to take into account all factors, including the vote share to decide which party wins. In Punjab, while ruling/winning SAD has vote share of 32%, the loser Congress has around 41%. What an irony!

///In Punjab, while ruling/winning SAD has vote share of 32%, the loser Congress has around 41%. What an irony!///

You get 9% less vote share and still win with majority? Even a naive would not believe. Please first get your statistics correct. with 2-3% difference it is possible but not with 9%. You might have forgotten the vote share of BJP to add with SAD.

"" Congress scripted Samajwadi romp in UP

www.sunday-guardian.com/investigation/cong-scripted-samajwadi-romp-in-up

So Congress worked hard to drive Muslims away from Maya to Mulayam in trying to get their Votes .

I had been crying hoarse that on one hand Muslims are deserting Congress on the other hand a big chunk of Hindus are deserting Secularism due Congress' destructing Communal Politics .

Congress has been the Ruler and presently too is the Ruler of India.Its divisive Politics not only harms Congress but India too .

We are about to witness a up side down change in the approach of mainstream media. Now they will dump muslim causes in  waste paper baskets and are dying to shake hand with hindus. Yesterday SIT submitted its final report on 2002 riots but there were no headlines on this in daily NewsP. Even TV channels almost kept mum. They have deffered Modi bashing program. So wait and watch. May be saba would be jobless or she will also take a turn around..

Dinesh,

Indeed, the defeat of the Congress in the UP has shocked the media and woken it up out of its slumber. They had built up Rahul and Priyanka up to almost mythical proportions; the Gandhis couldn't put a foot wrong. So much coverage was devoted to them that one would have thought there were no other candidates and parties in the fray. Now that the elections have delivered a resounding slap on the Congress' face and the ascendancy of the BJP (yeah yeah, skeptics will point to the decline in vote share, but what matters is the number of seats and the eventual configuration, doesn't it?) and other parties is a foregone conclusion, expect the media to do a quick U-turn.

For those who constantly whine about dynastic succession in congress ad other parties, may be they should now realize that the ultimate power is in the hands of the voters. So if at all a son or daughter or a wife or husband gets elected they have no one o blame but themselves.

You have predicted about Goa that the distribution of tickets to a few families is a step, which will make the win of BJP easier, and it happened. Congress was sure to get its turn in Punjab, so the tickets were distributed arbitrarily, and not by some shrewd planning, and while Punjab Congress chief Capt. Amrinder Singh was lazy, the high command was over-confident, and a number of rivals also contested, taking a major chunk of vote share, thereby giving marginal advantage to SAD-BJP alliance, justifying the old story of two monkeys fighting over a breadpiece, with a monkey capturing the same. But, the situation in UP was entirely different. The more we try to understand, the more we get confused. I sometimes feel that defeat in UP can be a blessing in disguise for Congress as during 2014, Congress will not have state-anti-incumbancy factor from UP, which can help it somehow to win some seats from UP. But, politics is a strange game, a game of probabliites. Nothing we can guess!

Priyanka's nice haircut and Rahul's stubble was all which we got (to see), and not any win, what to call of a big one!

I call upon the readers to comment upon Priyanka's haircut, further.