Rahul Gandhi fails to charm Madhya Pradesh

BHOPAL: Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi's magic apparently failed to work in Madhya Pradesh as the number of Congress seats went down at most of the places, where he had addressed election rallies ahead of the November 25 assembly polls.

The total number of seats held by the Congress in the state assembly went down from 71 to 58 this time.

Gandhi had addressed more than six election meetings in the state.

The Congress Vice-President started off with election meetings at Gwalior and Shahdol held on October 17.

While the number of seats held by the party came down from three to two in Gwalior, the party could win only one seat in Shahdol, although it had won three seats in 2008.

Similarly, in Rahatgarh and Indore, Rahul had addressed election meetings on October 24.

Rahatgarh is part of Surkhi constituency, from where sitting Congress MLA Govind Singh Rajput lost by a slender margin of 141 votes.

On November 20, Rahul addressed election meetings at Kukshi in Dhar district and Sidhi.

In Dhar district, the number of Congress seats came down from five to two, although its nominee in Kukshi managed to win.

Congress got some solace as it managed to win two out of three seats in Sidhi district. Rahul's presence in Mandsaur and Balaghat also seems to have benefited the party to some extent.