One of the biggest successes of Rahul Gandhi in the recently held Gujarat polls was to unite various anti-BJP forces.

Few would disagree that aligning with Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mevani — the trio decided to join or support the Congress just in time for the elections — was a good idea.

The Bharatiya Tribal Party has got another two seats for the Congress alliance. Had the Congress not ensured opposition unity, it could have fared much worse, given the fact that the BJP actually increased its vote share in comparison to 2012 assembly elections. Rural distress or not, the Congress’ biggest success in Gujarat was in ensuring that its vote share gains actually translated into an increase in the number of seats it won in the assembly.

This experience holds important lessons for Congress strategists. If the Congress can create a rainbow coalition against the BJP — which is now the dominant force in Indian politics — a turnaround is not impossible.

In fact, an analysis of election statistics from 1996 onwards shows that the Congress’s failure to strike political alliances has been to the BJP’s advantage; 1996 was the first time the BJP became the single largest party in the Lok Sabha.