This is why Congress matters

Even in its second successive annihilation by the BJP, the Congress retained a solid block of 20 per cent votes. That's why all of BJP's victims want the Congress at the core of their challenge

Mamata Banerjee underlined the obvious when she said on her Mumbai visit that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) didn’t exist any longer. The fact is, the UPA ceased to exist as an effective alliance after the 2014 general elections.

What she and Prashant Kishor, who we might describe as her NSA, National Strategic Advisor, said about the Congress, however, is more significant. In her interaction with some leading lights of civil society in Mumbai, including some from popular culture mostly seen supporting the Congress on social media, Ms Banerjee taunted Rahul Gandhi without naming him. To fight back in politics,