AK Antony has submitted yet another report that goes into reasons for the Congress poor showing in the most recent elections. Even though the contents of the report are confidential, our mole in Shri AK Antony’s office was kind enough to furnish a snapshot of the original clean chit template opened in Word in track change mode in Shri Antony’s desktop before the changes were accepted and the document sent over:

Despite our tallest leader, Shri Rahul Gandhi, mounting an energetic campaign throughout Uttar Pradesh in 2012 , through the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi in 2013 throughout India in 2014, the Congress drew a blank in the recently concluded elections for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, Assemblies of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan Lok Sabha.

Wherever Rahul went, he attracted huge crowds but the party failed to tap into his charisma and pedigree to convert this groundswell of support into votes. Poor organizational structure in many places, wrong selection of candidates, price rise, and perception of corruption were the main culprits for the rout. It also didn’t help that some senior leaders made controversial or ludicrous statements. For instance, Rahul Gandhi declaiming that Pakistan’s ISI is trying to recruit disgruntled riot-affected Muslim youth in Muzaffarnagar or stating that dalits need the escape velocity of Jupiter to break free of poverty.

Some disgruntled and frustrated leaders within the party are spreading mischievous rumours that Shri Rahul Gandhi was responsible for the Congress’ worst ever drubbing in recent memory. Nothing can be farther from the truth.

The fact is Rahul had a huge role to play, including being the face of the Congress campaign, and having the final say in the selection of candidates, but Rahul had absolutely nothing to do with the drubbing. If anything, the party collectively led Rahul down.

The Modi wave Manipulation of media coverage by Narendra Modi was another factor.

However, there is no reason to despair. Just like in 1977, we will bounce back from this low under the dynamic and inspirational leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. and hopefully, Priyanka Gandhi.

The final report was also reportedly looked over by ace draftsmen, Mani Shankar Aiyer and Manish Tewari, before it landed up on Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s desk. Aiyer, who felt that the report, while doing a good job of giving a clean chit to the Nehru-Gandhi scion, did not go the distance in extolling the greatness of the Nehru-Gandhis, added a few lines of praise. Tewari gave the requisite finishing touches by adding inserting ‘holistic’ and ‘juxtapose’ in a few places.