Although the latest poll surveys suggest that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may not be able to get a majority of its own in the ongoing polls, the leaders of the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), which has not been formed except in bits and pieces, are bound to regret their lost opportunity.

If they had only been able to overcome their self-centred political instincts and learnt to compromise, the BJP would have been in greater trouble.

Now, the various regional satraps and the standard-bearer of the country’s oldest party will have to brace themselves to spend another five years in the political wilderness as the BJP gains ground by virtue of being the largest party (though possibly still short of a majority) and the leader of the largest group.

There is little doubt that Rahul Gandhi will have to share much of the blame for this turn of events. As the Congress president, it was incumbent upon him to reach out with greater zeal towards the seemingly stiff-necked state-level leaders who have retained their ill-will against the 134-year-old one-time behemoth.

Rahul Gandhi’s first outreach should have been towards Mayawati, especially after the signs of her bonhomie with Sonia Gandhi at H.D. Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony last summer.

Even after Mayawati walked away from an alliance with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh after Digvijay Singh’s customary faux pas about the BSP czarina being under pressure from the BJP, she had said that she had complaints only against Digvijaya Singh, who, she thought, was a BJP agent, and that she had nothing against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Yet, from that time onwards, her attitude towards the Congress started hardening. This was the period when Rahul Gandhi should have taken the initiative to keep the Congress’s ties with her alive by allaying her suspicions about the (somewhat tattered) Grand Old Party trying to wean away the Dalits from her party.

But the Congress not only allowed the relations with the BSP to deteriorate but even made it worse by reaching out to the rival Dalit leader, Chandrashekhar Azad “Ravan”, who was visited in hospital by Priyanka Gandhi.

Considering that Akhilesh Yadav did not want the ties of the Samajwadi Party (SP)-BSP combine with the Congress to fray beyond a point, Rahul Gandhi might have enlisted his support to mollify Mayawati.

Instead, it appeared that the Congress’s main adversary in UP was the SP and the BSP and not the BJP. The latter could not but have been pleased by this development.

Even Priyanka Gandhi’s appointment as the Congress General Secretary in eastern UP gave the signal that the party was fighting the opposition gathbandhan in the state rather than the BJP.

The focus on UP appears all the more strange since the Congress has ceased to be a major player in the state. If the party wanted to build itself up for a future contest, it could have waited till after the current round of elections instead of playing the spoiler where the political fortunes of Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati are concerned.

Rahul Gandhi made the same mistake in West Bengal where he accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of making “false promises”.

Again, since the Congress is not much of a player in West Bengal where the BJP has edged ahead of both the Left and the Congress, there was little to gain by criticizing someone who was trying to form a gathbandhan of sorts though without much success.

Considering that Rahul Gandhi was hailed as a possible prime ministerial candidate by, among others, H.D. Kumaraswamy, the DMK’s M.K. Stalin and the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashvi Yadav, the Congress president can be said to have had a head start over other as yet unannounced contenders like Mamata Banerjee and Mayawati.

Rahul Gandhi was also entrusted with drafting a common minimum programme at a meeting hosted by Sharad Pawar where Mamata Banerjee, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were present along with others like Farooq Abdullah. It showed the Congress president’s rising stature.

Not long afterwards, there was talk about a Congress-Aam Admi Party (AAP) alliance being formed to contest the parliamentary polls in Delhi. Moreover, Rahul Gandhi was said to be in favour of such a pact.

But nothing came of it and, once again, the BJP is likely to be the gainer from a three-cornered fight, as in UP.

Rahul Gandhi has succeeded in shedding his “Pappu” image of being a part-timer in politics who cannot be taken seriously. But he is yet to learn that politics is the art of the possible.

The essence of this aphorism is that a leader or a party will have to tailor their policies in accordance with the existing circumstances and opportunities, and not out of pique or hubris, as the Congress appears to have done in UP.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday called NYAY scheme a surgical strike on poverty as he took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for growing unemployment in the country.

“Under the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY), Rs 72,000 will be given annually to five crore families in the country. Poor states like Bihar and Odisha will get the benefits under the scheme. This is the surgical strike on poverty,” said Gandhi while addressing an election rally in Balasore Lok Sabha constituency.

This is the first election rally of Rahul Gandhi in Odisha after the declaration of poll dates.

He also said NYAY scheme will help generating employment, which was affected by demonetization and Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Gandhi allayed fears that the middle class would have to bear the burden for the scheme.

He said the scheme will be entirely funded with the “money looted by the industrialists like Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, who fled the country”.

Rahul attacked Modi for not talking about employment generation, farmer issue and corruption.

“Modi carries teleprompter wherever he goes to deliver his speeches. He keeps getting orders not to talk about employment. He does not mention the Rs 15 lakh promised to remit into accounts of every poor Indian”, said Gandhi.

He said while Modi promised 2 crore jobs, but in reality, 27000 jobs are lost every 24 hours under his government.

“There are 22 lakh government posts lying vacant. Once Congress comes to power, we will fill the vacancies and create 10 lakh jobs in panchayats,” he added.

Speaking on the farmers’ plight, he said the Congress government would ensure that no farmer is sent to jail for defaulting on loans.

He said Rs 2,600 would be provided on paddy per quintal in Odisha, once the party forms the government in the state.

Elections are being held in four phases in Odisha. Odisha has 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats.

Prime Minister Modi has taken his slogan of being a ‘chowkidaar’ (watchman) effectively to the people. With equal intensity, Congress President Rahul Gandhi is criticising how Modi is using his chowkidaar post to benefit only industrialists and corporates but not the common people. Rahul is appealing to the voters in his election rallies to remove the ‘chowkidaar’ from his PM post so as to bring the country out of crisis.

Rahul continued his attack on the links between Modi and Anil Ambani on the issue of Rafale jet fighters deal. How can Modi so boldly tell lies when he is involved in such massive frauds? Rahul asserted that the country’s future would be in danger if the BJP is allowed to continue in power.

Rahul maintained that Modi has done nothing to uplift the poor people’s lives which is why the Congress has come out with the ‘Nyay’ (justice) programme. This will ensure a minimum income of Rs. 72,000 per year per poor family. As a result, nearly 20 per cent of the total country’s population will benefit. Rahul appealed to the people not to believe in the untruths and lies being spread by Modi.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi virtually brought the house down on Friday when he said: “I love Narendra Modi.”

In a free-wheeling live interaction with over 5,000 college students at the Lakshmi Lawns in Hadapsar suburb here, Gandhi took wide-ranging questions from the gathering, largely pertaining to jobs, education, healthcare and some even personal.

Answering a poser from a student, he paused and said: “I love (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. I really do, seriously. I have no anger against him. I love him. But he has anger towards me.”

The comment was greeted with thunderous cheers and applause from the students, stunned even the hosts and the media, coming as it at the height of the Lok Sabha election season when both the ruling and opposition sides are firing poisonous darts at each other.

To another question on his favourite childhood memories, Gandhi thought for a moment and said: “It was with my grandmother (late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi). Before she would come home from work, I would hide behind the curtains, and when she arrived, I would jump out and scare her. I know (now) that she was not scared, but she always pretended to be scared.”

Responding to a query about his relations with sister Priyanka Gandhi, he said: “We are very close, she is my best friend since childhood.

“From early childhood, we have witnessed lot of violence. First my grandmother was killed, then my father (Rajiv Gandhi) was killed. All though, she supported me,” Gandhi said amid pin drop silence.

Now, even after she has joined politics, the old sibling bonds remain strong, and Rahul Gandhi said he never removes the Rakhi she ties on him every year and it probably lasts till the next year.

“In the past there were fights, but not any more. We may quarrel, argue, but before it gets into a fight, one of us steps back and ends it.”

On a question about how the modern day youth seem addicted to the social media and living in virtual reality, the Congress President said: “If people choose to live in virtual reality, let them do it.

“However, some day they will have to face the actual reality of life. Social Media (Twitter) will not take care of your parents. You will have to face the harsh realities then.”

To a student’s question on who deserves credit for the recent Indian Air Force strikes, Gandhi responded firmly: “The IAF deserves all credit for it…”

He added that he has never claimed credit for such things in any of his speeches, but was totally against “politicising the IAF air strikes”, as was being done by Modi.

Organised by Congress MLA Vishwajeet Kadam, the interaction – lasting around 75 minutes – was conducted in an informal manner with the two hosts – famed Mumbai-based RJ Malishka Mendonsa and Pune-based acclaimed Marathi film actor Subodh Bhave.

Responding to Bhave’s plans to make a biopic on him, to be directed and filmed by him, for which he was on the lookout for a hero to play the title role, Gandhi playfully preempted him: “I am wedded to my work.” The crowds cheered their approval.

In a major decision, the Congress on Sunday announced that party President Rahul Gandhi will contest the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in Kerala, apart from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

The announcement was made at a press conference here by senior party leader A.K. Antony and the party’s communications incharge, Randeep Singh Surjewala.

The Congress had been given indications that Gandhi will contest from a seat in the south and Wayanad was mentioned as a possible choice.

Gandhi, who has been representing Amethi, won the seat by a reduced margin in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls by defeating Union Minister Smriti Irani and she is challenging him again in the constituency in the 2019 elections.

Surjewala said Gandhi will be contesting from a seat that in a way represents three southern states.

“It will be a message of unity of the the north and the south,” he said.

Surjewala accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of causing divisions and said that the lives of people in south India was important to the Congress.

He also said that Gandhi has “family ties” with Amethi and the “BJP’s dirty conspiracies cannot break it”.

Asked which seat will Gandhi retain if he wins both in Amethi and Wayanad, Surjewala said that when the Congress forms a government following the polls, the party President will represent the entire country.

Amid demands from party activists, Congress President Rahul Gandhi may contest the Lok Sabha polls from a seat in Karnataka apart from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh where his candidature has already been announced.

There have been demands from Congress activists that Gandhi should be a candidate from a seat in southern India too.

In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi contested from two seats: Varanasi and Vadodara.

Congress party president Rahul Gandhi will commence Lok Sabha election campaigning in Telangana from Chevella constituency on March 9. Rahul Gandhi will address a public meeting at Pahadi Sheriff, near Shamshabad airport, in Maheshwaram Assembly constituency and this will be an assurance meeting on minimum wage for people, said party sources.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) is expecting participation of party cadres over two lakh in number from 36,000 polling booth cadres.

AICC general secretary and in-charge for Telangana Congress affairs RC Khuntia, TPCC chief Uttamkumar Reddy, senior leaders Sabitha Indra Reddy, Bhatti Vikramarka, Sudhir Reddy, Konda Vishveshwar Reddy etc, discussed on measures to be taken for the massive public meeting.

“TPCC almost named the meeting as ‘Minimum Wage Assurance Meeting’ for the people. Rahul Gandhi will explain how Congress party will implement the minimum wage assurance scheme to the people once it comes back to the power at the Centre. We have examined several places in Narsingi, Shamshabad and finalised Pahadi Sheriff area for the public meeting,” said a senior Congress leader.

TPCC will take Rahul Gandhi’s prestigious scheme on minimum wage assurance to every household in Telangana. CLP’s proposed camp ahead of MLC elections has been put on hold considering Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Telangana. It may be recalled that CLP had proposed to camp its 19 MLAs to protect them from poaching by TRS ahead of MLC election. Telangana Congress wanted to take its 19 MLAs on a tour to a place, where Sabari river merges with the Godavari. The tour was scheduled on March 8 and 9.

It was a year Congress President Rahul Gandhi came into his own as a campaigner and strategist, emerging as a powerful voice in the opposition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He also earned his electoral spurs in tough Hindi heartland battles, helping his party win three states that will have ramifications in the Lok Sabha elections a few months away.

Rahul Gandhi began the year as Congress President, having taken over the post from his mother Sonia Gandhi last December at the culmination of party’s organisational elections.

The path was full of challenges as barring Punjab and Puducherry, where it had stormed back to power as also Karnataka — where it is the junior partner in the ruling colaition — the Congress was virtually starved of electoral victories since its Lok Sabha debacle in 2014. It had also not beaten the BJP in a straight contest anywhere in four years.

Gandhi went about the task methodically by identifying weaknesses and bridging gaps. He sought to beat Modi at his own game by expanding social media outreach and connecting with the audiences through witty, hard-hitting tweets and posts.

Gandhi consistently attacked Modi on issues linked to the common man — corruption, unemployment, farmers distress, demonetisation, price rise — and stepped up his efforts to portray the BJP leader as a “friend of the rich”.

He attacked the BJP on national security — a key plank of the ruling party — highlighting how the government had been “silent” on the Chinese build up near the Doklam site and its “failure” over the continued infiltration from Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.

Gandhi sought to demolish the perception that Modi was “personally incorruptible” by taking repeated jibes at him over the Rafale fighter jet deal with France. He single-handedly made Rafale deal a national issue through press conferences, tweets and speeches and attacked Modi with “chowkidar is chor” (the guard is the thief) barb.

He travelled abroad to counter Modi’s outreach among the diaspora. Gandhi’s consistent articulation of issues, including job losses caused by demonetisation and the slowing down of economy due to “flawed implementation” of the Goods and Services Tax, seemingly put the government on the defensive.

The GST, which was simplified in the run-up to the Gujarat assembly polls last year, has been further eased after the BJP lost power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Gandhi aggressively clamoured for farm loan waivers and several state governments are likely to opt for the measure before the 2019 general elections.

Gandhi had been attacking Modi earlier too but his elevation as party chief sharpnened his attacks. Simultaneously, he addressed organisational issues, effecting changes in his team at the All India Congress Committee to create a combination of experience and youth.

Thus, the Old Guard, including Ambika Soni, Ahmed Patel and Motilal Vora are part of the AICC team that also has several young leaders such as Jitendra Singh and R.P.N. Singh as in-charge of states. Gandhi strove to give the party general secretaries one state each to bring more focus on their work and ensured that party secretaries, mostly young leaders, were given specific responsibilities.

Realising that the Congress would need as much support as possible to oust the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance from power, Gandhi changed the Congress stance of projecting him as the prime ministerial candidate for the 2019 elections and said the decision will be taken after the polls.

He has been interacting with opposition leaders to build a common platform against the Modi government, a role which was initially perceived to be that of his mother and UPA chairpeson Sonia Gandhi.

To improve the party’s outreach among the vast informal sector, he created All India Unorganised Workers Congress. He also strengthened party’s efforts to get the support of youth, women, professionals, fishermen, tribaIs and scheduled castes.

A Data Analytics Department was created to study voters, workers and ground-level issues in a better way.

The thought to detail in working of the party is evident from the way All India Unorganised Workers Congress has been shaped with separate coordinators for NGOs and government projects, legal matters, auto rickshaw, rickshaw pullers, construction workers, the self-employed and domestic workers.

Gandhi also reached out to people directly through the social media.

“You cannot control social media. Gandhi has been gaining followers and his messages and posts are widely followed. Earlier BJP was setting the agenda and Congress was responding but now it is the reverse,” a Congress leader who did not want to be identified said.

As party chief, Gandhi has run far more elaborate and sustained assembly election campaigns than did Sonia Gandhi, who helmed the Congress for 19 years.

He sprang a surprise in his efforts to project the BJP as divisive and made its leaders angry when he walked to Modi during the debate on no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha and hugged him.

He also openly said that BJP leaders may call him “pappu” but he does not hate the party.

Realising how the Congress could not form governments in Goa and Manipur despite being the single-largest party, Gandhi moved swiftly in Karnataka earlier this year and entered into alliance with Janata Dal-Secular to keep the BJP out of power.

But the challenges that remain for him are herculean.

The Congress lost six assembly elections this year – Telangana, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland – despite the three wins in Hindi heartland and managing to be a partner of the ruling coalition in Karnataka. It is not in power in any state in the northeast, a party stronghold only four years ago. It is weak in the crucial states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and needs allies to win seats.

Next year is likely to be a make or break year for Congress, as the country goes to general polls.