The NDA’s landslide victory in Maharashtra points to a worrying direction for India’s principal opposition party. The Congress-led alliance was routed in India's richest state and humiliated in the Rajasthan bypolls as well. Its only consolation was winning 3:0 in the Karnataka bypolls, given that it played a junior role in the INDIA bloc's victory in Jharkhand.

This author has previously written about how the Congress party and its central leadership, particularly the Gandhis, need to acknowledge and learn from their past mistakes as they continue to lose electoral credibility, especially after an unexpected defeat in Haryana a month ago.

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