The Maharashtra elections marked the worst-ever performance by the Congress in the state since 1962 — the grand old party won just 15 out of the 101 contested it contested, a strike rate of just under 15%.

The party’s performance is in stark contrast to the Lok Sabha elections, where it emerged as the single-largest party in the state, winning 13 Lok Sabha constituencies out of 48. In terms of vote share, the Congress clocked 16.92% in the Lok Sabha elections. That has come down drastically to 12% in the assembly polls.

The Congress is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).

“The Congress should not have basked in the glory of Lok Sabha election and rather, should have reworked on a game plan to take on political opponents who entered the fray with a revised strategy,” KV Prasad, a political analyst said.

The Congress held its campaign around the ‘Save the Constitution’ slogan, which worked for the Lok Sabha polls but failed to make a mark in the state elections. The party did not evolve its strategy on the issues of people and became complacent following the Lok Sabha performance.

On the other hand, the ruling Mahayuti coalition swayed voters with its cash-centric schemes welfare schemes — Ladki Bahin, an instalment paid to farmers under the Kisan Samriddhi Yojana, a scheme for unemployed youth, and others.

Also, infighting was seen within the party and the alliance, with every constituent pulling at the leash. The party state chief, Nana Patole, found himself fighting a lonesome battle with no one by his side.

The Maratha reservation issue, which the Congress believed would resonate in this election, was managed effectively by the Mahayuti. The ruling alliance fought elections as one unit and consolidated voters, trouncing the Opposition by winning 235 seats in the 288-member assembly.

Here is how the Congress fared since 1962:

Election year	Seats won by Congress	Seats won by BJP
1962	215	–
1967	203	–
1972	222	–
1978	62	–
1980	186	14
1985	61	16
1990	141	42
1995	80	65
1999	75	56
2004	69 (Sharad Pawar splits)	54
2009	82	46
2014	42	122
2019	44	105
2024	18 (provisional)	131 (provisional)