Congress’s showing in the Lok Sabha polls. Also, ironically, the problems today spring from another such contest: Ashok Gehlot’s claimed unpopularity in Jat communities dates from the party’s 1998 decision to choose him, a Gandhi family loyalist since 1980, over the local party committee chairman Parasram Maderna.

Leadership contests should ideally be open and transparent, in which all candidates and their supporters feel that they have fairly won or lost. Failing that, parties should not be coy about who leads their state units. In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress suffered from not having a face to their campaign that could be compared to the BJP’s CM Chouhan. The party should have learned by now that stifling or postponing choices of this sort doesn’t help its chances.