share showed how far it has fallen in the countrys most populous state what was more humiliating was its performance in gujarat frittering away the 77 seats and 41 vote share of 2017 to a lamentable 17 seats and 27 vote share the lack of fight was jarring in the event giving the bjp a free run and letting arvind kejriwals aam aadmi party get a toehold in the statean elected president for congressmallikarjun kharge 80 became the first to be elected party president in 24 years when he defeated shashi tharoor in a onesided contest though the gandhis claimed that they were neutral in the election the veteran was seen as the establishments candidate and romped home tharoor who performed better than expected came out of the contest with his credibility and reputation enhanced he was the sole reason the election was seen as legitimate and not an elaborate charade the election was preceded by some drama as the gandhis first choice rajasthan cm ashok gehlot opted out of the contest before it even began fearing that his bete noire sachin pilot would be handed over the reins in rajasthanbharat jodo yatrawhatever it ends up achieving the fact that the congress and its reluctant spearhead rahul gandhi embarked on an ambitious 3570km kanyakumarisrinagar yatra was enough to enthuse those ranged against the bjp and its brand of politics proposed to cover 12 states in 150 days the yatra showed that the congress was ready to go to the people and engage with them directly a far cry from the indolent image it has acquired rahul has steadfastly maintained that the yatra has no political purpose and is meant to hear what the people have to say but nothing a political party does can ever be apolitical to that extent it is a smart move but what was surprising was the moribunds partys conception of the idea and rahuls determination to do the hard yardsaap wins punjab goes nationalthe aam aadmi party started the year on a stupendous note winning 92 seats out of 117 in punjab with 42 vote share that was some improvement on the 20 seats and 2372 vote share it had returned the last time around the crisisridden congress imploded going from 77 seats to 18 aap did reasonably well in goa winning two seats but was a wipeout in uttarakhand where it had high hopes and in up the party ended the year on an upbeat note getting five seats and 13 vote share in gujarat where it had campaigned extensively and noisily and wresting the municipal corporation of delhi from the bjp throughout the gujarat campaign it maintained that it was winning the polls but the party will be mightily pleased with its performance in a traditionally twohorse race in the process it became eligible for the national party tag something kejriwal and his supporters have made a big thing of in the midst of the euphoria the measly 1 of vote share in