New Delhi: Kerala's Wayanad is the only bright spot for the Congress today as the Grand Old Party posted one of its worst performances in Maharashtra. In the Lok Sabha by-polls in Wayanad, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is not only set to fill her brother Rahul Gandhi's shoes, she is doing it in spades, surpassing his 2024 record vote margin by noon.
Where Rahul Gandhi had a margin of 3.65 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha election held earlier this year, Ms Gandhi Vadra has secured over 6.1 lakh votes, leading her nearest rival, CPM's Sathyan Mokeri who has polled 2.06 lakh votes.
After winning from Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh as well, Mr Gandhi had vacated the Wayanad seat. The party nominated his sister, paving the way for her electoral debut in the Lok Sabha. During the announcement, Mr Gandhi had guaranteed her work and said the constituency would now have two people to look after it -- he and his sister.
The turnout in the seat, which has over 14 lakh registered voters, was around 65 per cent - down from the close to 74 per cent in the Lok Sabha polls held in April and much lower than the 80 per cent-plus turnout of 2019, when Mr Gandhi had made it the second seat he was contesting from.
But the Congress performance in the other two states - Maharashtra especially - has come as a shock to the party, which was hoping to build on its Lok Sabha performance.
In Maharashtra, where the BJP is headed for a sweeping victory, a chunk of its seats has come at the cost of the Congress, which is 28 seats down from its 2019 score of 44. The party is currently leading in 16 seats out of the 101 seats it contested.
In the Lok Sabha polls held barely six months ago, the Congress had won 13 of Maharashtra's 42 Lok Sabha seats on which rested its hopes of a big win and the Chief Minister post. Its key leaders in the state had refused to name Uddhav Thackeray as the candidate, saying the party that gets the most seats would get the post.
The performance of Mr Thackeray's Sena is marginally better - the Shiv Sena UBT is leading on 19 of the 95 seats it contested, four more than 2019.
Sharad Pawar's faction of the NCP has posted one of its worst performances, being ahead only in 12 of the 86 seats it contested, one less than 2019.
In Jharkhand, where the INDIA bloc led by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is headed for a victory, the Congress is leading on 16 seats, which was also its score in 2019.