The dominant narrative that the election in Uttar Pradesh was a battle between the Samajwadi Party-BSP combine and the BJP knocked the Congress out of the frame at the very outset, district-level Congress leaders have told the leadership. These sentiments were expressed by district-level office-bearers and candidates of 10 constituencies neighbouring Delhi at a review meeting called by the general secretary in charge of western Uttar Pradesh, Jyotiraditya Scindia. Majority of participants felt voters stopped seeing the Congress as a viable option once the SP and the BSP formed the alliance. This was a unique crisis in Uttar Pradesh as our leaders couldn’t convince the voters that we were fighting to win. But Sharma said the Congress was destroyed in Uttar Pradesh by Azad.

Source: The Telegraph June 12, 2019 00:22 UTC