Since May 2004, when the United Progressive Alliance under Congress president Sonia Gandhi [Images] assumed office, India has seen 25 assembly elections including the four states that went to the polls along with that year's Lok Sabha election. Of these 25, the Congress lost a whopping 16 state assembly elections.
Since 2005, the only major wins for the Congress party have been in Haryana and Assam. Otherwise, it has been losing critical states like Uttar Pradesh and, recently, Karnataka.
The Karnataka loss is significant not only because it was the first southern state to be won by the Bharatiya Janata Party but also because this was a state that stood by Indira Gandhi [Images] when she contested a by-election after being defeated in the post-Emergency 1977 general election. The Chikmagalur victory in 1978 put Indira Gandhi back on the route to the prime ministership in the January 1980 general election.
What will India look like if the colours of the parties ruling the various states were to be plotted on a map? And, the result is right here:
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