But in the end nothing can take away from the fact that the Congress’s strategy was hugely successful. Even his critics have to acknowledge that Dr Manmohan Singh’s government seemed to be a safer pair of hands than any of the competitors. He can claim credit for the fact that this election was not taking place against the backdrop of deep discontentment; if anything, most people have more cash in their pockets. Agrarian growth has been impressive, procurement prices high, subsidies galore, government employees with cash in their pockets; and despite the recent slowdown, the continuous record of growth was a strong hand with which to go to the elections. Rahul Gandhi should rightly get the credit for laying the political foundations of this victory. But in end that could not have been possible, without the fact that the government, for all its imperfections seemed more credible than all the rivals.

Rahul Gandhi’s three gambits seem to have paid off handsomely. The first was the decision of the Congress to go it alone; if nothing else, this decision was a reiteration of its character as a special national party. And the timing for this was just right in UP. Second, and more subtly, in states like Punjab,

Uttarakhand and even, to some extent, in Gujarat, the strategy of energising the Youth Congress and bringing an element of organisational vitality seems to have paid off. And finally, his own subtle strategy of positioning himself as an “outsider” to the system, a source of real, even if somewhat indeterminate newness seems a master stroke. There is no question that at the moment people see Congress as a party of the future, and he was able to embody that idea in all its concreteness. If outcomes were a consequence of predetermined logic, no politics would be necessary. Rahul Gandhi has demonstrated the dividends that risk-taking can have in politics: it can change the rules of the game. This is his moment. He has changed the rules of politics. The country will now look to him to change its horizons for the future.

... contd.