Early signs, early silence, early exit

Clearly disappointed, those present there discussed in low voices the possible reasons for the defeat of the party in the city as well as across the country.

Bansal has won the last three Lok Sabha elections in 2009, 2004 and 1999. Earlier, he had also won in 1991. With each victory, Bansal had emerged stronger at the Centre and also tightened his grip on the Chandigarh unit of the party. He held charge of several ministries, including those of parliamentary affairs, water resources and the much- coveted railways.

In May last year, just a little short of a year before the election, the rail bribery scam hit the headlines after Bansal’s nephew was caught by the CBI while accepting a bribe from a member of the Railways Board. Bansal was forced to resign as the railways minister.

Soon Bansal faced a challenge in the Chandigarh unit of the party. A section opposed giving the party ticket to him and names of possible alternative candidates started doing the rounds. For the first time after several years, local leaders staked claim to the Congress ticket for Chandigarh. Bansal finally got the ticket, but the rift had caused damage.

Several sections in the city complained about long-pending demands not having been fulfilled. During the campaign, wherever he went, Bansal faced questions from the residents about various works. The claim of development undertaken by him did not seem to cut ice.

Congress leaders had initially hoped that with an AAP candidate contesting, the damage that could have been caused by anti-incumbency would be cushioned. Even on Friday, it was being argued that if the AAP had polled around 50,000 votes, it would have benefited the Congress. But the AAP got more than one lakh votes, which damaged the Congress.

Bansal dismissed the talk of a Modi wave in the city. He said that if there was a Modi wave, the BJP would have received a higher percentage of votes than it actually got. He said he would analyse the causes of defeat in the next few days.