This Article is From Mar 06, 2012

Rahul is a young leader while BJP is Jurassic Park, chides Congress

Rahul is a young leader while BJP is Jurassic Park, chides Congress
New Delhi: The headiness that the BJP was experiencing this morning had dissipated by 11 am. At first glance, early leads showed the party was going to slap exit polls in the face with 90 of UP's 403 seats seeming within reach. But by mid-morning, the party was positioned to land about 51 seats, virtually unchanged from its tally in the last elections in 2007.

UP was just the beginning of the bad news. In Punjab, the BJP's partner, the Shiromani Akali Dal, forced the state to break with tradition of not returning any party to power for a second term. While Parkash Singh Badal, the chief minister, has led his party to what will go down as a historic victory, the BJP actually did worse in Punjab than in the last elections.

In Uttarakhand, where the BJP was in power, early leads show a photo-finish - 30 seats for the Congress, 29 for the BJP. And Manipur has voted for the Congress. So of the five states that are up for grabs today, that leaves Goa open for the BJP to claim. Sudheendra Kulkarni of the BJP was remarkably candid. He said the party had failed to capitalise on both the anti-Mayawati mood in UP, and the national disenchantment with the Congress. "Kabhi khushi, kabhi gham," said the BJP's Sushma Swaraj, borrowing the title of a Bollywood blockbuster to sum up a lack-lustre accomplishment.

"The electorate of UP wanted to defeat BSP and theychose the SP. This is what has happened. This a clear explanation of UPresults," said Sushma Swaraj, adding, "Announcing a Chief Ministerwouldn't have changed things."

"It is a gloomy picture for Congress overall. They werethinking they will get Punjab, they did not. They though they will have andedge it Uttarakhand, they do not. They could not win in Goa," Ms Swaraj told NDTV.


For the Congress, the big disappointment lies in Rahul Gandhi's failure to serve as a catalyst for change in UP. His mother, Sonia, and his sister, Priyanka, campaigned hard for him in the state, especially in and around the family's constituencies of Rae Bareilly and Amethi. The results show voters were not suitably impressed. The party is likely to move from the 22 seats it had so far to over 50 seats. So the Congress has done better than the BJP, but its performance is under-whelming given the star-power of its first family.

"So much hype, and what came of it? The Congress is winded," said Ms Swaraj. "At least we have shown a young leader," said Renuka Chowdhury of the Congress.  "The BJP just has Jurassic Park," she said.

In Mr Gandhi's defense, the Congress has produced a series of leaders who say they accept the blame for the UP let-down. "The job of a star campaigner is to attract the masses and to sell the party ideology," said Ms Chowdhury. Like others from her party, she said Mr Gandhi had been let down by poor organization within the Congress in UP.

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