In 1996, the Congress .. secured 28.80% votes and 140 seats in the Lok Sabha. In 1998, the party ... got 25.74% votes and 141 seats in Parliament. The party's vote share has, therefore, dropped by a significant 3% over the past two years, even though it managed to hold on to its seats in Parliament.

Ms. Gandhi campaigned for the Congress in 137 parliamentary constituencies but the party won just 51 of them. Even more significant is the fact that though she campaigned in 56 Congress-held constituencies, the party lost 29 of them. Of them, 22 went to the BJP

.. One cannot overlook ... in Maharashtra the socio-political alliance, brought about by Sharad Pawar.

... Her campaign has been something of a disaster in the northern and eastern regions. Even in the south, the family's presence in the campaign failed to enthuse voters despite a strong anti-incumbency wave in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Results show that unlike in the past, the voters were not swayed merely by the presence of the Nehru-Gandhi clan in the campaign. The party has done well only in states where it has a strong and credible leadership – like in Maharahstra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Kerala.

On the other hand, despite her strenuous efforts, the party's performance was pathetic in states like Uttar Pradesh (85 seats) and Tamil Nadu (39 seats), where it drew a blank, and West Bengal (42 seats), where it bagged just one seat. In Bihar (54 seats), despite its alliance with Laloo Yadav, the party secured just five seats .... In these four states, which account for 220 seats in parliament, the Congress won just six seats! Ms. Gandhi had campaigned for 39 seats in these states ...

The South: The Congress bagged just 39 of the 139 seats in the south ... Ms. Gandhi campaigned in 34  constituencies. The party won 14 seats ..

East and North-East: ... She campaigned in six Congress-held constituencies in Orissa, where the party was decimated. On the other hand, Narasimha Rao, who was denied a party ticket, campaigned in just one constituency -Behrampur - and the party bagged it.

Ms. Gandhi visited 24 constituencies in the East. Only six of the seats went to the Congress ... In the North- East, Ms. Gandhi visited three constituencies in Assam and one in Meghalaya. The party won all four.

The North: The northern region has proved to be Ms. Gandhi's waterloo. The party won only five of the 120 seats in UP, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.

The West: ... In Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa ... of the 44 constituencies that Ms. Gandhi visited, 22 went to the Congress ...

Thus, while Ms. Gandhi enthused the Congress workers and ensured party unity, she has not been able to enthuse voters. its support base has shrunk further from its 1996 level to a dangerously low of 25.74 per cent.

The 1998 results also lead to few other inferences:

Ms. Gandhi could not revive the electoral fortunes of the party in states where it is non-existent or where it has been displaced by local mutations of the Congress (Example: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal).

Ms. Gandhi could not contain an anti-incumbency wave against her party (Example: Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh). Ms. Gandhi could not help her party cash in on an anti-incumbency wave in a non- Congress state when a third-party was in the fray (Example: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Gujarat and, to an extent, Andhra Pradesh).                                                                                                             (Source: The Pioneer, 15 March, 1998)