Rahul accepts defeat with a smile on his face, what next for him?

New Delhi: With a smile on his face and trying to put up a brave face following the massive debacle that Congress received at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party led by Narendra Modi, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi faced the flashes of the cameras on Friday when he came out to take the moral responsibility of the party's decimation.

While the Congress managed to bag only 46 seats through the country, it was a tough fight in Amethi for the party Vice President in what is considered to be a Gandhi bastion. Though Rahul finally managed to win by over 1 lakh votes, in the initial rounds, he was trailing against BJP's Smriti Irani.

In fact, apart from Rahul's Amethi and Sonia Gandhi's Rae Bareli constituency, the Congress has not managed to win even a single seat in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

But like always, the entire Congress clan jumped in defence of the 'youth' leader, taking the blame for the poor show of the party. "The campaign went wrong but considering the limited amount of time that Rahul had in his hands, he did a commendable job. Every party has its ups and downs, there is no need for him to quit," Union minister and Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said.

Some said and some unsaid questions have often been raised over the capability of the Gandhi scion's ability to hold the Congress together. Voices in the party itself have demanded Priyanka Gandhi's official entry into the Congress. Even while the Gandhi daughter led the campaign for her mother Sonia and brother Rahul in Uttar Pradesh, there was a strong feeling of she being more deserving than Rahul.

Answering back for the first time on a public platform, Priyanka replied to each and every accusation that was aimed at her or her family throughout her campaign in Uttar Pradesh. She herself indulged in name calling of the BJP as well as its prime ministerial candidate, while projecting herself as a leader who refused to budge. However, just like her brother, she too stayed away from holding an office of responsibility in the government or the party.

While it seems highly unlikely that the Gandhi family will be touched despite almost literally falling on its face to the ground, it is to be seen if the party will be able to revive itself during its tenure as the opposition in Parliament and also if the Congress Vice President will finally be able to make himself of some use for the party.