The 2014 electoral mandate has been rightly read as being in favour of Narendra Modi's dynamic connect with aspirational India.

Yet it is as much a vote against the Congress's complete failure to understand the ground realities. In the aftermath of its worst-ever electoral defeat, the Congress is refusing to come to terms with its precipitous situation, retreating into a defence of its "first family', Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, rather than rigorously examining the causes of its ignominious defeat.  Read