And Then There Remained One

Rajasthan

Riches to rags would be a bad way of putting it. In Raja­sthan, the Congress collapse can  be termed a grandeur-to-dust story—a historic defeat if there was one. In one str­oke, Rajasthan’s ruling party has shrivelled from 96 to 21 seats.

There are many reasons for the Congress’s dismal show. Fir­stly, it fell to one per­son—CM Ashok Gehlot—to counter the opp­osition, manage the campaign and promote his flagship projects. Curiously, he got little Central and state support. Yet, Geh­­lot had little say in the distribution of tickets. His  eff­o­rts were also undermined by the collective end­e­­avour of RSS and BJP workers, as also—­unlike in Delhi, MP and Chh­at­tisgarh—the...