Before the 2009 elections the Congress had a difficult choice to make. Should it strive for a repeat of the 2004 experiment, even though the UPA allies, taking advantage of the Congress’s vulnerability, were increasingly demanding? Or should it go alone? The decision was crucial in the states of UP and Bihar which together account for nearly a quarter of Parliament’s total strength. Congress leaders, fearful of power slipping out of their grasp, almost universally wanted the soft option, of accepting the crumbs offered by the RJD and SP. It was better to be a minor player than split the anti-NDA vote by fighting independently of the RJD and SP, they argued. While the seasoned politicians in the party were prepared to eat humble pie to retain power, the novice Rahul Gandhi understood that if the Congress bowed out of these two states, in the long run the party would eventually lose its pre-eminent position as an all-India party. BJP strategists were thrilled by what they considered Rahul Gandhi’s strategic blunder.

But it was Gandhi who had the last laugh. This election saw many of the Congress’s traditional supporters returning to the fold. The results indicate the electorate was unhappy with regional parties, motivated by narrow, selfish considerations. It wanted a national party which could provide a strong government and an inclusive agenda. There is a lesson in this for all other political parties. Of course, it would be naive to assume that the electorate is no longer swayed by caste, regionalism or religion. These traits are so well entrenched in the system that they cannot be weeded out easily, but hopefully a small beginning has been made. In UP, the BSP and BJP carefully crafted their selection of candidates on the basis of caste, but the Congress, whose selection of candidate was far more random and last-minute, did better than both. Significantly, not a single Muslim candidate fielded by the SP won in UP.

... contd.