BJP's fight back and Congress mis-steps

There is no doubt that the BJP suffered a massive setback in the Lok Sabha elections this year. Against the target of winning four hundred seats, the party could not even secure a simple majority. And for coming to power for a third term, the party has to depend on support from regional outfits like Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United and Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam.
Brand Modi has consequently suffered erosion.This has led to the opposition getting more assertive. Voices from the opposition can no longer be ignored, which was the case during Mr Narendra Modi's first two terms as Prime Minister.
But the BJP has been working hard to overcome the challenge. This can be clearly seen in the results of the Assembly elections held so far this year. Of the four states, where elections were held, the BJP emerged victorious in two states, Haryana and Maharashtra.
The results in Maharashtra in the latest round of elections are especially remarkable. The state is an economic powerhouse and accounts for a major part of India' s financial resources. 
The Maharashtra Assembly election results show that the Congress and its partners in INDIA are not able to transform public support into election victory.
In the first round of assembly elections, this became apparent in Haryana, where the Congress lost because of inability to transform public support into victory.
The party was unable to overcome factional differences. One faction led by Jat leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda was given virtually a free hand in picking up candidates, alienating other factions, especially that allied with the Dalits. This resulted in the BJP snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress was able to win seats in single digit, though its ally, the National Conference got a majority in the union territory assembly.
In the latest round, the BJP and its partners won a massive victory, trouncing the Congress and its allies. The Congress was not able to win even enough number of seats to get the leader of opposition place.
Delhi will elect its Assembly early next year. As of now, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party will not be having an alliance for this election. The BJP is all set to put up a tough fight to snatch power from the Aam Aadmi Party.
The Congress does not appear to have a clear cut strategy to snatch power from the Narendra Modi led BJP coalition. If the party wants to outwit the BJP, it will have to work on several fronts. There are no signs of such a scenario as of now.

( B I Saini is a retired IIS officer, Served as DG, AIR. He is a senior political analyst)