In a more shocking revelation for beleaguered Congress, the Uttar Pradesh verdict has thrown up yet another disturbing fact: that it is now an even smaller player than BJP ally Apna Dal.

ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2017: FULL COVERAGE

Apna Dal (Soneylal) headed by Anupriya Patel, who is a minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi cabinet, contested on 11 seats and won nine of them. On the other hand, the Congress, which contested the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election as junior ally to the ruling Samajwadi Party, fielded candidates on 105 seats. The party won a meagre seven seats.

What was more humiliating for the Congress is that it lost all the four Assembly seats in Amethi, a region considered to be the grand old party's pocket borough. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi represents Amethi in Lok Sabha and despite the party using its 'star campaigner' Priyanka Gandhi to campaign for it in the region, voters rejected it.

THE INSULT

When Congress decided to contest Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh in association with the Samajwadi Party, the Opposition mocked it for playing a junior partner to the ruling party.

The Congress has long been a spent force in Uttar Pradesh and Rahul Gandhi's aim of resurrecting it in one of the most populous states of the country seems to have hit a dead end.

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Rahul Gandhi must realise that relentless attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not win him elections rather the party should work on grassroot level to win back the confidence of its loyal votebank.

Despite the embarrassment in UP, veteran party leader Digvijaya Singh asserted that there was no question of Rahul Gandhi stepping down.

"There is no question of Rahul Gandhi stepping down," said Singh in response to media queries about a change of guard in the Congress top brass.

"The Nehru-Gandhi family is the greatest binding factor for the Congress and the leadership has to come to Rahul," he said.

Singh, however, conceded that the Congress party needed to build regional leaders.

"I have said this even earlier that we need to build up new leadership in states. We have to take decisive action to build up the party where we do not have strong regional leaders," added Singh.

Congress is returning to power in Punjab after a gap of 10 years but it was more due to the massive anti-incumbency against SAD-BJP combine and efforts of veteran party leader Captain Amarinder Singh than Rahul Gandhi. He hardly campaigned in the state.

In 2014, the Congress was decimated by a massive BJP wave. The saffron tsunami has hit it again in 2017. The party must put on its thinking cap so as to prevent the BJP from realising its dream of a 'Congress-mukt Bharat' in 2019.

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