Fail - the unsurprising report card from the Congress for one year of the Modi government.
After Congress boss Rahul Gandhi said he marks the government at "zero", it was also perhaps natural to expect his party to say that the Modi government has failed on all fronts. Yet, while discussing policy initiatives of the Modi government, senior Congress leaders claim that it is simply carrying on with their legacy. "The only thing original is their logo. They didn't take it from us," said Anand Sharma.
Over the past week, the Congress had gone on an offensive, holding more than 100 press conferences across the country. On Tuesday, it's media offensive ended with a press conference addressed by Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, and Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress Lok Sabha leader.
The event started with the Congress releasing a video film where several pre-election speeches of the Prime Minister were juxtaposed with comments made by the PM himself and other senior BJP leaders after coming to power - the intent was to show the contrast between promises made and reality.
For example, first a clip played out where the PM at an election rally told the audience that "There is so much black money abroad that every citizen will see 15 to 20 lakhs deposited in their bank accounts." This was followed by another video clip where the BJP President Amit Shah declared that the 15 lakh claim was a jumla (political slogan).
Soon after this, the leaders released a report card titled Ek Saal Desh Badhal (A Year of the Country in Despair, Country). Thereafter, Congress leaders tore into the performance of the government. For over one and half hours, Messrs Azad and Kharge either found fault in the government's performance, or described policy initiatives as a carry-over of the UPA's legacy. Arguments that have been made before were repeated again and again. "Swach Bharat Abhiyan (the PM's Clean India mission) was just the renaming of UPA's Nirmal Bharat scheme," said Azad.
Barely 24 hours before that, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, from the same podium, listed several other such schemes that he described as appropriated by the new government- the UPA's Zero Balance or No Frills bank accounts has become Jan Dhan Yojana, UPA's Swabhlambhan insurance scheme is now the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and so on.
And here, perhaps, lies the biggest irony for the Congress: they give a big zero to the NDA government but want credit for the policies as UPA's own.
The Congress seemed eager to compete and counter the government's communication strategy. On a day when the Prime Minister launched a 24/7 kisan (farmer) channel, perhaps to counter Opposition's barb that the government is pro-rich and pro-corporate, Rahul Gandhi wished a "happy birthday to suit-boot-ki-sarkar."
A birthday wish, dripping with sarcasm. His Youth Congress colleagues - wearing suits, tie and a hat - tried to rub it in by taking out a "suit-boot" protest in Delhi's Connaught Place. From Kerala to Bhopal to Delhi and Mumbai, the Congress tried innovative ways to register their protests and more importantly, to get people's attention.
(Sandeep Phukan is Deputy National Editor with NDTV)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.