05-12-2007, 03:28 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Rahul got crowds, but Cong didn't get seats </b>
Pioneer.com
Nidhi Sharma | New DelhiÂ
106 roadshows with less than 10 seats to show; party tally, vote share fall further
When Rahul Gandhi started his roadshows with long-time family confidant Satish Sharma, to campaign for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared that he was the "future of the State". But the people who turned up for his darshan did not think so and, not swayed by his sermons, they voted for other parties.
Call it mismanagement at the organisational level or a complete lack of political wisdom, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family just could not work his magic. As soon as the results of the Congress' dismal performance in the UP election started pouring in early on Friday, senior party leaders scrambled to save Rahul Gandhi from the obvious embarrassment and even went to the extent of lauding his efforts.
Union Minister Kapil Sibal said, "Rahul will lead the party in Uttar Pradesh in the 2009 Lok Sabha election." Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said, "Rahul Gandhi led from the front. He has improved and strengthened our position in the State." The party went into damage control mode offering excuses like lack of party organisation at the grassroots.
<b>The final statistics reveal a rather grim picture. Rahul Gandhi held 106 roadshows in different constituencies all over the State. But according to the party's statistics, the Congress could win less than 10 seats covered by these roadshows</b>. This triggered a debate in political circles on whether sister Priyanka Vadra was a better party campaigner.
<b>While the Congress had a no-show in almost all the constituencies where Rahul campaigned, the party claimed four of five seats in Rae Bareilly district and two of five in Amethi - the traditional Gandhi family pocketborough where Priyanka had campaigned</b>.
A senior leader said, "The comparison is unfair because Priyanka campaigned only in areas considered the family's strongholds whereas Rahul did it on a wider scale everywhere." The party also brushed aside these comparisons. Singhvi said: "This conclusion is completely misplaced."
Following the party's performance in UP, the decision to field Rahul as the star campaigner has divided the Congress. Before the elections, the party had claimed that Rahul would help in increasing the Congress' vote share. However, even this could not happen. Senior leaders like Salman Khurshid and AICC general secretary Ashok Gehlot are understood to have opposed such massive campaigning by Rahul. According to party sources, these leaders were of the view that if Rahul campaigned on such a large scale he would have to shoulder the blame for the Congress' defeat. Rahul's close advisors, who strongly argued that UP was the ideal launchpad for him, are now likely to bear the brunt of the defeat.
The party's inability to retain, leave alone improve on, its seat tally has obviously triggered doubts about its campaigning strategy. Party leaders pointed out that Rahul's experiment with the "corporate culture" did not go down well with the party functionaries in the State. Rather than involving the grassroot workers, leaders point out, Rahul brought in data analysts to gauge the political mood in the State just two months before the elections.
A senior leader pointed out:<b> "There was a serious disconnect in the functioning. The party worker cannot work with analysts and NGOs who do surveys and feed in data in computers. So they did not feel a part of the entire election and campaigning process." </b>
According to party insiders,<b> Rahul relied more on computer-wielding analysts than the party workers, which finally did him in</b>. Even the issues that were raked by him did not strike a chord with the electorate.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
They should blame OBC reservation and Muslim appeasement.
Pioneer.com
Nidhi Sharma | New DelhiÂ
106 roadshows with less than 10 seats to show; party tally, vote share fall further
When Rahul Gandhi started his roadshows with long-time family confidant Satish Sharma, to campaign for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared that he was the "future of the State". But the people who turned up for his darshan did not think so and, not swayed by his sermons, they voted for other parties.
Call it mismanagement at the organisational level or a complete lack of political wisdom, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family just could not work his magic. As soon as the results of the Congress' dismal performance in the UP election started pouring in early on Friday, senior party leaders scrambled to save Rahul Gandhi from the obvious embarrassment and even went to the extent of lauding his efforts.
Union Minister Kapil Sibal said, "Rahul will lead the party in Uttar Pradesh in the 2009 Lok Sabha election." Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said, "Rahul Gandhi led from the front. He has improved and strengthened our position in the State." The party went into damage control mode offering excuses like lack of party organisation at the grassroots.
<b>The final statistics reveal a rather grim picture. Rahul Gandhi held 106 roadshows in different constituencies all over the State. But according to the party's statistics, the Congress could win less than 10 seats covered by these roadshows</b>. This triggered a debate in political circles on whether sister Priyanka Vadra was a better party campaigner.
<b>While the Congress had a no-show in almost all the constituencies where Rahul campaigned, the party claimed four of five seats in Rae Bareilly district and two of five in Amethi - the traditional Gandhi family pocketborough where Priyanka had campaigned</b>.
A senior leader said, "The comparison is unfair because Priyanka campaigned only in areas considered the family's strongholds whereas Rahul did it on a wider scale everywhere." The party also brushed aside these comparisons. Singhvi said: "This conclusion is completely misplaced."
Following the party's performance in UP, the decision to field Rahul as the star campaigner has divided the Congress. Before the elections, the party had claimed that Rahul would help in increasing the Congress' vote share. However, even this could not happen. Senior leaders like Salman Khurshid and AICC general secretary Ashok Gehlot are understood to have opposed such massive campaigning by Rahul. According to party sources, these leaders were of the view that if Rahul campaigned on such a large scale he would have to shoulder the blame for the Congress' defeat. Rahul's close advisors, who strongly argued that UP was the ideal launchpad for him, are now likely to bear the brunt of the defeat.
The party's inability to retain, leave alone improve on, its seat tally has obviously triggered doubts about its campaigning strategy. Party leaders pointed out that Rahul's experiment with the "corporate culture" did not go down well with the party functionaries in the State. Rather than involving the grassroot workers, leaders point out, Rahul brought in data analysts to gauge the political mood in the State just two months before the elections.
A senior leader pointed out:<b> "There was a serious disconnect in the functioning. The party worker cannot work with analysts and NGOs who do surveys and feed in data in computers. So they did not feel a part of the entire election and campaigning process." </b>
According to party insiders,<b> Rahul relied more on computer-wielding analysts than the party workers, which finally did him in</b>. Even the issues that were raked by him did not strike a chord with the electorate.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
They should blame OBC reservation and Muslim appeasement.