Cong' poll-shame: Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi trashed in UP

With the Congress hurt with the people's verdict in the aftermath of the

, the most important set of people who are sidelined are Congress' young guns Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. In spite of their extensive campaigning and their efforts to connect with the people, looks like it was Samajwadi star campaigner Akhilesh Yadav who was able to charm UP's aam janta.

The exit polls predicted that the Congress will not be able to put up a good-show in the elections, they let out feelers citing that Rahul will not be blamed in case of a debacle. Congress' in-charge for UP polls, Rita Bahaguna Joshi and Digvijay Singh claimed that they will have to be blamed in the event of a failure.

As per the current trends, the Samajwadi party (SP) is leading in 200 seats, the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 97 and the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at around 50 each. [Read: Live coverage of the election results here]

Joshi said that she was "hugely disappointed" with the results. She added, "Why should a campaigner accept responsibility? It's the candidate and the organisaton that is responsible. Our campaigner did his job brilliantly. There are several factors - the state unit has to take the responsibility. The onus is on the candidate, the committee that selected the candidate. We have to all take a collective responsibility. National leadership cannot be held responsible." [Read: UP poll analysis: Akhilesh Yadav pulls down Rahul]

Priyanka's entry into the campaign fray was a crowd-puller, but the effort could not be converted into votes. A clear favourite ahead of her brother, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka was always the favourite among the masses.

The Congress' stronghold of Amethi and Rae Baraeli also saw a not-so-impressive performance, clearly indicating that the party was not able to impact the rural population. Sitting Congress MLA Amita Sinh was defeated by SP candidate Gayatri Prasad Prajapati by a margin of over 7000 votes in Amethi.

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