Congress MP Jairam Ramesh and Media Director Pawan Khera had been scheduled to carry a press convention within the night, however it didn’t happen because the poor efficiency of the opposite 4 states steered an absence of pleasure.
The get together’s numbers fell to single digits in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, and it fell brief in Assam, the place it was anticipated to face a tricky problem.
Ultimately, the Congress gained simply two seats in West Bengal, 5 in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry. It gained 19 seats in Assam.
The one success in Kerala beneath the UDF alliance seems to have been pushed extra by opposition to the incumbent Left Democratic Entrance (LDF) authorities than by decisive assist of the Congress’s personal organizational power.
India’s 2026 parliamentary verdict, which can reshape the contours of nationwide politics, alerts a deepening disaster inside the Indian Nationwide Congress, which faces successive election defeats in key states and a shrinking state.
The larger setback for the Congress isn’t just the election outcomes, however the knock-on results of severing ties inside the Indian bloc, weak organizational constructions, factional infighting, and deepening credibility points that proceed to erode the Congress’ place throughout states.
Regardless of the Congress successful 99 seats with round 21 per cent vote share within the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and considerably rising its numbers throughout the nation, the get together has struggled to translate its momentum into breakthroughs on the state degree.
Though it gained 37 seats with 39% of the vote in Haryana, it failed to come back to energy and misplaced to the Bharatiya Janata Occasion. In Maharashtra, whereas the Congress and its allies carried out properly within the meeting polls, they had been unable to translate it into secure state-level management.
In Bihar, the collapse of the insurgent alliance after Nitish Kumar’s exit derailed its prospects. The get together stays weak in Delhi, the place it had no seats within the final meeting election, Odisha, the place it has a single-digit seat presence, and Andhra Pradesh, the place it has near zero seats.
Congress leaders and former ministers informed ThePrint that the “suggestions” that Rahul Gandhi receives is disconnected from actuality and claimed that he was being shielded from senior leaders who may specific important views.
Citing his go to to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands days earlier than the polls, the chief argued that a couple of gatekeepers had been offering fallacious recommendation, resulting in a lack of expertise of points on the bottom.
“Elections should not gained by attacking individuals like Gautam Adani or Mukesh Ambani. Elections are gained by individuals’s connections and group, each of that are at present missing. Organizational equipment is nearly non-existent and the vanity of the highest management is damaging the get together,” he mentioned.
He additional alleged that the Congress has no accountability system and that Rahul Gandhi stays its chief regardless of repeated electoral setbacks.
“The second a frontrunner seems smarter than Rahul Gandhi, the system tries to sideline them. Have a look at Sachin Pilot or Jyotiraditya Scindia. There are lots of different examples. When others repeatedly lose elections, they’re excluded, however Rahul stays on the centre, all the pieces within the get together revolves round him and there’s no ‘introspection’, the chief claimed.
One other senior official blamed the Congress get together’s poor efficiency on the shortage of inside democracy within the get together, arguing that whereas Mallikarjun Kharge was performing as a “rubber stamp” president, the actual management rested with Okay.C. Venugopal.
“The get together might have elected Shashi Tharoor as president, however as a substitute they selected a loyalist who, in our view, lacks political depth. His latest feedback additionally didn’t assist his trigger,” the get together chief mentioned.
The Congress is at present in energy in solely 4 states – Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, and now Kerala – the place energy struggles proceed, highlighting its shrinking land space and successfully decreasing it to a “southern get together”.
Consultants recommend that somewhat than functioning as a unified nationwide drive, Congress capabilities as a patchwork of state items which are additionally disintegrating. The get together has not been capable of set up a robust narrative for the nation or area.
Additionally learn: Already on the again foot, the Congress and the Left have made small features in Bengal however are nonetheless combating for relevance.
kerala
The Congress-led UDF returned to energy in Kerala, successful 102 of the 140 meeting seats. Of those, the Congress gained 63 seats.
The UDF’s victory in Kerala is seen as a loss for the LDF somewhat than a achieve for it. The LDF’s marketing campaign depends closely on governance fatigue, corruption allegations, and a want for widespread change, whereas positioning itself as a substitute somewhat than relying by itself organizational power.
Kerala, the one state the place Congress kinds the federal government, already faces the prospect of an influence battle between a number of candidates for the chief minister’s publish, elevating the chance of a Karnataka-like scenario the place infighting spills over into governance.
Stress on Rahul Gandhi is prone to improve additional because the get together continues to grapple with friction between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar in Karnataka. Related conditions might come up elsewhere, making issues much more tough.
Assam
In Assam, the Congress gained solely 19 seats out of a complete of 126 seats. Regardless of circumstances suggesting a combating likelihood, the consequence was a significant setback.
The get together sought to place Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, son of former chief minister Tarun Gogoi, as the primary challenger to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, betting on consecutive phrases and anti-incumbency after corruption allegations.
It has additionally introduced in allies reminiscent of Akhil Gogoi’s Raijor Dal, Lurinjyoti Gogoi’s Assam Jatiya Parishad and regional organizations such because the All Occasion Hill Management Convention to consolidate a broader anti-BJP platform.
This coalition is usually “Three Gogoi”-Aimed toward consolidating key social blocs, notably the influential Ahom vote in Higher Assam, whereas consolidating minority and anti-BJP sentiments.
In principle, this gave the Congress a viable avenue to mount a severe problem to the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led authorities in a state the place social coalitions have traditionally decided election outcomes.
Nevertheless, that potential was not mirrored within the outcomes, revealing a niche between technique and execution.
Additionally learn: Congress wins in Assam solely in minority strongholds, 18 of 19 new MLAs are Muslims
west bengal
Already at a political drawback in West Bengal, the Congress did not make any progress within the state.
An all-party assembly is predicted to be convened within the coming days following the TMC’s rout, however doubts stay over whether or not she’s going to attend as Rahul Gandhi ramped up assaults on Mamata Banerjee throughout a pre-poll go to to West Bengal.
Sources near Banerjee informed ThePrint that whereas Banerjee continues to have respect for Sonia Gandhi, she has a robust dislike for Rahul Gandhi.
Her latest assaults, together with allegations that she enabled the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Occasion, haven’t translated into significant electoral wins for the Congress, however relations with the TMC chief could also be additional strained and fewer keen to cooperate on the nationwide degree, the place the Congress positions itself because the “huge brother” of the Indian bloc.
Regardless of being at a crossroads, the 2 international locations might finally want one another greater than ever because the Bharatiya Janata Occasion continues to develop its management on the state and central ranges.
A number of key members of the Indian bloc, together with RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, JMM’s Hemant Soren and AAP nationwide convenor Arvind Kejriwal, joined the TMC’s marketing campaign in West Bengal to attraction to voters, hinting at a broad rally of regional forces behind Banerjee. Though Samajwadi Occasion chief Akhilesh Yadav didn’t journey to the state, he expressed assist on social media.
Political observers interviewed by ThePrint mentioned the opposition get together’s assist for Mamata Banerjee ought to function a wake-up name for Rahul Gandhi. The Indian bloc continues to operate, however Congress appears more and more sidelined internally.
A senior Congress chief in West Bengal informed ThePrint there was restricted assist from the central excessive command, leaving native leaders to fend for themselves.
Consultants who’ve studied the Congress have described Rahul Gandhi’s polling technique in West Bengal as notably rustic and scattershot, arguing that it lacked a transparent ideological route and did not resonate constantly with voters.
Congress leaders and former ministers who spoke to ThePrint on situation of anonymity criticized Rahul’s politics.
“There was no have to go to West Bengal. Nothing got here out of West Bengal. If we had shaped an alliance with the All India Trinamool Congress, we might have at the least introduced a stronger and extra united opposition,” he mentioned.
Additionally learn: Rebels and turncoats hand over Assam constituencies to BJP, however don’t contribute a lot to Congress
tamil nadu
In Tamil Nadu, the Indian Nationwide Congress declined considerably, successful solely 5 victories. a seat within the 234-member parliament; In line with the Election Fee web site.
The get together, which had been contesting as a part of a DMK-led alliance, was overshadowed by the dramatic rise of the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), which emerged as the one largest get together and disrupted the normal political panorama within the Dravidian state.
This consequence highlights that the independence base of the Congress within the state is proscribed and that the Congress’s efficiency is extra intently tied to the dynamics of its alliances than to its personal organizational power.
Now, the urgent query for Tamil Nadu is whether or not the get together will select loyalty to the alliance or pivot to the TVK-led ‘Vijay wave’.
Mr. Vijay’s father SA Chandrasekhar urged the Congress to align with TVK, claiming that Mr. Vijay is able to share energy with the Congress.
Congress analyst Rashid Kidwai steered that Congress wants to return to fundamentals if it needs to outlive.
“The Congress missed a chance to align itself with the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu. Rahul Gandhi didn’t belief his political instincts and as a substitute turned to the outdated guard – Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge, Mr. P. Chidambaram and Mr. Sonia Gandhi,” Kidwai informed ThePrint.
“Going ahead, the Congress wants to return to fundamentals, particularly in Kerala. It chooses the chief minister primarily based on the preferences of MLAs as a substitute of imposing names. The get together nonetheless has room to make a comeback in West Bengal, however it has did not observe up post-elections in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Delhi. It’s time to get up and recreate the Kerala mannequin that led to robust organizations and victories,” he added.
warning signal
Indicators of rigidity had been seen even earlier than this election.
In 2020, 23 senior leaders, referred to as the G-23, got here collectively to name for inside reforms and stronger institutional democracy. The group referred to as for seen everlasting management, inside get together elections in any respect ranges, decentralization of decision-making, and a extra lively and accountable get together construction.
The G23 additionally mentioned weak management and an absence of inside democracy had been chargeable for the poor efficiency in parliamentary elections.
Since then, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal have left the Congress, declaring the shortage of inside reforms within the get together and indicating that many of the G23’s proposals went unheeded by the highest management.
Those that remained, together with Shashi Tharoor, Anand Sharma and Bhupinder Hooda, noticed their affect inside the get together decline.
“Congress must do some severe introspection. Congress must reconnect with its regional roots. It’s focusing extra on nationwide politics however neglecting native politics, which has led to the present scenario,” Chandrachul Singh, professor of political science at Delhi College, informed ThePrint.
(Edited by Sugita Katiyal)
Additionally learn: Congress CM Gaurav Gogoi crashes and burns in Assam ballot debut, loses to Jorhat by over 23,000 votes
