India, June 8 -- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been credited with the smooth power transition in Karnataka, allying with the rising regional party, Tamil Nadu's ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, and forming the government under a new leadership in Kerala. This follows the Congress's victory in the 2023 Telangana assembly elections.

After its successes in southern India, the Congress faces its toughest challenge in Uttar Pradesh, where the party's performance in the 2024 national polls, in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP), raised hopes of recovering from a terminal decline.

The Congress-SP alliance won 43 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and polled 43.52% of the votes. The Congress bagged six of the 17 seats it conteste...