For Rahul Gandhi, -------- A Happy First Anniversary

[Spartan]

Exactly a year, to the day, that Rahul Gandhi was named Congress president, his party colleagues gave him the best gift he could have hoped for, tapping into anti-incumbency and widespread rural distress to defeat BJP in three states. The outcome boosts Rahul's stature as PM Narendra Modi’s main rival for the top office and may help set up a closer-than-anticipated duel for next year’s Lok Sabha polls.

Congress delivered a knockout in Chhattisgarh, won on points in Rajasthan, and looked set to eke out a narrow victory in a cliffhanger in Madhya Pradesh. Kamal Nath, Congress chief in MP, wrote to the governor late Tuesday night, stating that his party had emerged as the single largest and had been assured the backing of all Independent MLAs, giving it a majority. He sought an appointment to stake the Congress’ claim to form government in the state.

The victories, the first by Congress against BJP in the Hindi heartland after Modi’s ascendancy, more than salved the humiliation it suffered in Telangana and Mizoram.