Cong says all polls are localised, but lacks a local leader

Now, when we take a look at the Congress's position, it is virtually a no match for the Gujarat CM. Most people of India feel that Narendra Modi is the best prime ministerial candidate even though he has never been a part of the Delhi politics. Nobody wants Manmohan Singh for a third time or a Rahul Gandhi. This shows the extent to which the Congress has been discredited. When Sonia Gandhi took the stage on Wednesday to kick off her party's campaign for the Gujarat polls, it looked it was a campaign without a cause.

The Congress had ruled Gujarat for the most period between 1960 and 1995, but nobody except Madhav Singh Solanki (1980-85) could complete a full term in office. When Sonia Gandhi said on Wednesday that all developments in Gujarat were initiated by the Congress, it sounds very out of place. People will not judge Congress by the history but by its current state, which has been tainted beyond any repair at this stage.

Sonia Gandhi's claim that the UPA government's decision on FDI will help farmers will not be able to move the Gujarati electorate. Corruption is a much bigger electoral issue than an FDI for the common man and whether the Modi government has indulged in corruption is an absolutely irrelevant issue in Gujarat. This might have worked in UP or Bihar but not in Gujarat.

The Congress president also might have chosen Rajkot, a Patel stronghold and also the home town to Keshubhai Patel, the staunch anti-Modi man, who formed his own party in August to disrupt the Gujarat CM's plans. She also tried to highlight the farmers' plight in Saurashtra region to corner the Modi government. The Congress also organised rallies to canvass support in different parts of the state, just like Modi's own 20-day yatra.

Congress lacks argument to counter Modi

The problem with Congress is that it doesn't have a viable stand nor a leader to successfully take on Modi. In 2002, the party tried to cash in on soft-Hindutva to defeat the BJP in the wake of the anti-Muslim riots that year. Fielding Shankersinh Vaghela did not pay off, either. Five years later, the Congress attacked Modi as a 'merchant of death' and 'Hindu terrorist' but this had made the latter's work much easier.

It was a foolish calculation for the Congress to take up a communal battle with the BJP for the latter is more adept in practising the Hindutva politics. In 2002, the Congress's under-estimating the threat of terrorism in Kashmir proved a big blow while in 2007, Modi successfully used Afzal Guru and Sohrabuddin Sheikh's cases to blunt the Congress's attack.

Neither the Congress has a face to put up in Gujarat

The party even has no face in Gujarat to challenge Narendra Modi. It has not decided on a chief ministerial candidate for either Himachal Pradesh or Gujarat elections. The delay in making a decision seems more of a weakness than an option. The Congress, which is plagued by a serious lack of leadership, even had no PM candidate as such for the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. Projecting Sonia Gandhi as the only face of the party while saying all elections in India today are local affairs exposes the 'baseless' Congress's paradox.

Gujarat a lost cause for Congress

The Gandhis know very well that it is a lost battle for them in Gujarat and no matter what the lesser leaders of the party claim that something unexpected will be seen on Dec 20, it is nothing but a wishful thinking on part of the Congress. Yes, Narendra Modi will perhaps face a much difficult test this time compared to 2002 and 2007, but that is more because his ambitious persona has given rise to several disgruntled voices. Can Narendra Modi continue with his individual leadership against a probable coalition of the enemies within? The outer enemy, it seems, has lost all steam to challenge him.