With its victory in Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh and emerging close to retaining power in Haryana, the Congress may well consolidate its hold on national politics and look for revival in states where it is out of power.
The assembly polls victory, which has come six months after the Lok Sabha poll success, was not entirely unexpected but what is noteworthy is that the win in Maharashtra overcomes anti-incumbency and places the party at the head of a coalition for a third consecutive term.
In Arunachal Pradesh, the resounding success has established the Congress as a major national party in the northeast, while the performance in Haryana has not been up to expectations.
The gamble of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda advancing the polls to cash on Lok Sabha poll victory, however, did not pay. From 67 seats in 2005 to a mere 40 in 2009, the Congress has lost 27 seats and is now left to scramble for gaining the magic figure of 45 in a house of 90 members.
The tally of 206 in Lok Sabha polls gave the Congress an upper hand over its allies unlike in 2004 when the party had just won a little over 140 seats.
The impressive show in the general elections also made the party to keep troubling allies like Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal and Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi Party at bay and out of the government.
The RJD, the SP and Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party, which contested the polls as a separate front, are not part of the United Progressive Alliance-II. The victory also reduced the bargaining power of old ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam and new-found friend Trinamool Congress.
The DMK, which demanded plum portfolios during the formation of UPA-I, was forced to take less important departments this time and the Congress also rejected the regional party's demand for more berths in the Cabinet.
As the party's tally crossed 200, Congress also kept all important portfolios, including those related to infrastructure, it with itself and did not give into pressure during the cabinet formation.
With his gamble of going alone having worked in Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress has been out of power for over two decades, Rahul Gandhi has attempted a campaign to give a new lease of life to the party in states like Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand.
The Congress general secretary also successfully conducted membership drive for youth Congress in several states.
The victory in Maharashtra has also given the Congress an upper hand over its ally Nationalist Congress Party, which has been its partner in the state for over a decade.
The NCP, which put up a not-so-good performance in the Lok Sabha polls, has been on the back foot, which was evident from the party conceding 10 seats.
With the NCP virtually giving up the demand for chief minister's post, the Congress will have a freehand in choosing a leader to head the coalition.
