In his farewell letter to Congress leaders, Rahul Gandhi wrote that he had at times stood entirely alone while taking on the BJP of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. An analysis of the campaign argued that the complaint was justified.

The resignation

With senior leaders treating his wish to step aside as a passing mood, Gandhi told reporters at the Parliament complex that he was no longer party president, ending talk that pressure might make him stay. He then posted a four-page letter to party members on Twitter, saying many people had to be held accountable for the defeat. “At times, I stood completely alone and I am extremely proud of it,” he wrote. The analysis read this line as a rebuke to party leaders seen as half-hearted in the fight.

How the campaign unfolded

The build-up began with the assembly elections of late 2018 in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, all then ruled by the BJP. While campaigning in Rajasthan in December, Gandhi coined the slogan chowkidar chor hai (the watchman is a thief) against Modi, who had called himself a watchman in 2014. The slogan, along with his Rafale allegations, put the BJP on the back foot until Modi answered with the main bhi chowkidar (I too am a watchman) campaign. It also led BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi to file a defamation case in the Supreme Court.

According to the analysis, Gandhi’s ratings rose but the party machinery did not keep pace, while BJP workers carried Modi’s message everywhere. The Congress won 52 seats and Gandhi lost Amethi, while the BJP won 303 and the NDA reached 353.

Weak links in the states

• Uttar Pradesh: state leaders resisted his earlier tie-up with the Samajwadi Party, talks stalled, and Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati ended a 24-year rivalry to ally without the Congress. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was put in charge of eastern UP, but local leaders failed to mobilise workers.
• Bihar and Bengal: state leaders quarrelled with the RJD under Tejashwi Yadav, and the Bengal unit was divided; the two seats won there, by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and by Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury, were largely personal victories.
• Congress-ruled states: across Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, which together have 93 seats, the party won only five, two of them in Chhattisgarh, but took eight of 13 in Punjab. The analysis said Ashok Gehlot focused on his son Vaibhav, who lost Jodhpur to Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Kamal Nath on his son Nakul Nath, who narrowly won Chhindwara.

Kerala was the exception: with Gandhi contesting Wayanad, the Congress won 15 of 20 seats there and the CPI(M) just one.

What happened next

Rahul Gandhi’s resignation as Congress president came in July 2019, and Sonia Gandhi became interim president in August 2019.

See also: Indian National Congress | Election news

Originally published on 3 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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