Results for four of the five states that had gone for the Assembly elections recently have completely dismissed the Congress party. The Congress suffered its worst debacle in Delhi where the Aam Aadmi Party of Arvind Kejriwal has taken 28 out of 70 seats in that State. This being the last assembly election before the Lok Sabha polls of 2014, the results are indicative of a Congress debacle in the parliamentary elections. The Congress has lost its share of scheduled caste votes which have swung towards the BJP. The Delhi poll results also reflect the strong public disenchantment over the UPA government which was seen as disdainful of the common citizens’ concerns. Price rise has hit the common man like nothing has. Prices of onions and potatoes the two vegetables that are indispensable to the Indian palate had shot through the ceiling making them unaffordable. The UPA has seen one scam after another hit it but the Congress party has been defensive and unable to respond in a manner that would resonate with the voters. In fact the party was seen as indulging in crony capitalism in the way the coal blocks or telecom spectrum were allocated. Besides, dynastic politics was also beginning to tell on people’s nerves and the fact that the Congress has been unable to announce its prime ministerial candidate has also confused the electorate.
The UPA regime also saw the rapid devaluation of the rupee which has happened on account of policy flaws. Corrective actions if any came too late. All these are reasons are enough for people to reject the Congress party and they have done so decisively in four out of five states where the results have been announced on Sunday. Mizoram might yet go to the Congress but the results will hardly make a dent in national politics considering that the state sends only one Member of Parliament.
From all accounts the Congress party has suffered a body blow. It is time for the Party to do a reality check including dismantling the dynasty which is an anachronism in a democracy. The people have voted. They have calculated what is good for them. If lessons are not learnt from these elections then the Congress party could well have gone beyond redemption.