It goes to the credit of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi that his party looks in a better shape now than it was till a couple of months ago. He has revived the party ahead of the Gujarat Assembly election.

After coming back from his US trip, the Nehru-Gandhi scion launched the Gujarat campaign on September 25 and single-handedly brought the demoralised Congress back in the reckoning.

Rahul has given Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the well-oiled giant BJP machinery in Gujarat a run for their money.

However, Rahul's herculean efforts seem to have been undone by his party men. Rahul's attempts to change the Congress' fortunes in the BJP-RSS' political laboratory may not yield the desired results - not because of his decisions but because of the faux pas committed by his partymen.

With Congress president Sonia Gandhi missing in action reportedly due to her illness, Rahul is fighting a lonely battle in Gujarat.

Congress' most senior leader in Gujarat, Shankersinh Vaghela, quit the party during the August Rajya Sabha election which saw Sonia's political secretary Ahmed Patel register a dramatic victory.

In the absence of tall leaders in the Congress who could match PM Modi or 'election winning machine' BJP president Amit Shah, Rahul had a tall order to challenge the rivals.

Despite these constraints, Rahul chalked out a strategy to put the BJP, which has been ruling Gujarat for 22 years, on the defensive.

RAHUL MANTRAS

One of the first initiatives of Rahul was to refurbish the Congress' social media outreach . His Twitter account @OfficeOfRG and that of the party adopted an aggressive approach. The party tasted its first success in the runaway success of 'Vikas gando thayo chhe (development has gone crazy)' campaign which became viral on social media.

It took the BJP, which had been seen setting agenda till then on the social media, by surprise. The ruling party tried several retorts but without much success.

Finally, it was left to Modi to chanta the mantra 'Hoon chhon vikas, hoon chhon Gujarat (I am development, I am Gujarat' to counter 'Vikas gando thayo chhe'. But the Congress had already scored over the BJP till then on the social media.

With social media revamped, Rahul turned to stitching alliances. OBC leader Alpesh Thakor joined the Congress.

The Congress entered into a deal with Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convener Hardik Patel. It has assured reservation to the Patidars for government jobs and educational educations and supported PAAS candidates in some seats. In return, the Congress hopes to get the votes of the Patidars.

Similarly, the party has not fielded any candidate against Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani who is contesting as an independent candidate from Vadgam reserved constituency.

In the same manner, the Congress has not fielded candidates on three seats on which tribal leader Chhotubhai Vasava and two of his associates are contesting. Vasava broke away from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led faction of the Janata Dal (United).

In the midst of the campaigning for Gujarat election, the Modi government made some changes in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) including bringing several items from the 28 per cent slab to the 18 per cent one.

It would go to Rahul's credit to force the Centre to amend GST. He had launched an offensive against GST calling it "Gabbar Singh Tax".The Congress vice-president has been a crowd puller. This has sent jitters in the BJP camp.

Rahul had been safely playing the 'soft-Hindutva' card so far. He had launched his Gujarat campaign on September 25 by visiting Dwarkadhish temple in Dwarka. Since then, he visited more than a dozen temples in a bid to win over Hindus and make inroads into the BJP's votebank.

JOLTS

While Rahul cautiously moving ahead in Gujarat, he received the first jolt when the Youth Congress posted a meme calling Modi a tea-seller. The prime minister and the BJP were waiting for such faux pas from the opposition to turn the tables on them.

Screenshot of the Yuva Desh tweet mocking PM Modi that was later taken down.

In public rallies, Modi attacked the Congress and said he sold tea but not nation. He also brought in the "son of the soil" element.

The BJP got a boost, and the Congress red face, when Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of United States President Donald Trump, said at the 8th Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) 2017 in Hyderabad on Tuesday that what Modi and India are achieving was truly extraordinary. "From your childhood selling tea to your election as India's Prime Minister, you've proven that transformational change is possible," she said.

The Congress it seems did not learn from the idiom 'once bitten twice shy'. Senior party leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had raked up Modi's 'chaiwala' background ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and the party paid for it.

The BJP retorted by launching "chai pe charcha" which became an instant hit among the masses.

Even as the storm in the tea cup was yet to settle down came the Somnath temple fiasco on November 29. By mentioning Rahul's name in the register for non-Hindus, the party workers put paid to his efforts so far.

The narrative has taken a weird turn. While the BJP raked raised Rahul's religion, the Congress took their bait and fell into the trap.

Instead of underplaying the issue, the Congress leaders added fuel to fire by screaming on top of their voice that Rahul was not a Hindu but a Brahmin and a "janeu-dhari" at that.

Among Hindus, the upper castes such as Brahmins and Rajputs wear the sacred thread (janeu).

The Congress' claim of Rahul being a "janeu-dhari" may end up nullifying his hard work of winning the support of the leaders of the Patidars, OBCs and Dalits. Together, these leaders were seen to be hurting the BJP's image of being an upper caste-supported party.

The Congress was at the receiving end of the BJP when Sonia had called Modi "Maut ka saudagar" in the run up to the 2007 Gujarat Assembly election.

Be it Aiyar's 'chaiwala' jibe or Sonia's 'maut ka saudagar' comment, Modi and the BJP have turned them to their advantage.

History seems to be repeating itself. The same chaiwala jibe and religious card are at play once again.

With the Congress men having bowled full tosses, Modi will not miss the opportunity to hit them for sixes.

And Rahul, the captain, would be the least amused.