If furious outbursts on Twitter could help political parties bounce back from electoral ignominy, the shattered Opposition would have, by now, scripted a historic comeback. On a high from its unprecedented 303 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, the ruling BJP, however, shows no signs of complacency, drafting new members, flagging off yatras in poll-bound states like Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand, and wrecking rivals with a perpetual poaching campaign. By contrast, over three months after they were left with more than a bloody nose at the hustings, the many political heirs apparent—Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Tejashwi Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, H.D. Kumaraswamy et al— who, until six months ago, were projected by their respective parties as the leaders to look out for, have been largely missing from the scene.
Announcing his decision to quit the Congress presidency soon after the poll debacle, Rahul had said he would continue to fight the BJP “with 10 times more vigour”. The Congress wasted over two...
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