Election Results 2014: Rahul Gandhi manages to win Amethi, but only just

AMETHI: On polling day, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi made an appeal to the constituents of Amethi; 'dekh lena bhaiya,' he said, with folded hands. Friday's verdict proved his emotional pitch failed to cut ice with a constituency considered the Gandhis since decades.

All internal projections of confidence failed and Rahul's victory margin shrunk to an embarrassingly low 1.07 lakh votes - his poorest since he became an MP in 2004. Congress insiders say it could have been worse if sister Priyanka Gandhi had not stepped in at the last minute to salvage the family pride and breathe some life into Congress' campaign. Even so, voters posted a decisive verdict: "You may not be lucky next time."

Like Amethi's roads, Rahul's ride to victory was a bumpy one. On Friday, the Congress camp had several tense moments, with Rahul trailing behind BJP's Smriti Irani for most of the morning hours.

If the Gandhis had predicted they would romp home in style, they were in for a shock. Even assembly constituencies that have traditionally voted the Congress party -minority-dominated Tiloi and Jagdishpur among them - began showing signs of unrest many days in advance.

In Tiloi and Jagdishpur, where Congress' Dr Mohammed Muslim and Radhey Shyam are sitting MLAs, the anti-incumbency was highest. Instead of offering the additional boost the Congress party was hoping to get from these constituencies, Rahul's performance in the two assemblies was the worst; in Tiloi, he pipped BJP's Smriti Irani by 11, 249 votes and in Jagdishpur by 14,241 ballots. Salon, in Rae Bareli, which has traditionally been Congress' weakest spot offered the most heartening mandate-it allowed Rahul to build his lead over Irani with a 33,097 vote margin.