She may have cleared the semi-finals but it is the finals that put her patience, political acumen and diplomatic skills to test.
For Ms Rita Bahuguna Joshi, her second term as UPCC president is all set to be much more crucial and decisive than the first term. This time, she will have to fight two wars — one with the political rivals outside the Congress and one within her own party.
Ms Joshi, who will now lead the party to the UP Assembly elections, due in 2012, will first have to grapple with factionalism that has already taken on an epidemic form in the UP Congress.
Differences between Ms Joshi and CLP leader Pramod Tiwari are well known and the former’s re-nomination as UPCC chief is expected to further fuel the war.
Besides this, another powerful lobby of senior party leaders does not see eye to eye with Ms Joshi and are openly critical of her style of functioning. Her team does not make things easier for her and adds to her woes.
Factionalism in the party organisation has given rise to indiscipline which is proving detrimental to party interests. The party organisation is also in a state of disarray and Ms Joshi will have to set the house in order and make it more cohesive before the elections.
The well-structured party organisations of the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party are already posing a major threat to the Congress in the rural interiors.
Meanwhile, Ms Joshi, outside the party, faces the challenge of making the Congress live up to the expectations, raised in the last Lok Sabha elections, in the coming Assembly elections.
Congressmen in UP, by nature, tend to get overconfident after any success, howsoever minor it may be. After the Lok Sabha elections, particularly the Ferozabad victory in October last year, UP Congress is already foreseeing its own government in 2012.
Short of distributing ministerial portfolios among themselves, party leaders are busy drafting a role for themselves in the post election scenario. This overconfidence can prove to be a major handicap and Ms Joshi will have to counter this with all her might.
Ms Joshi’s media team is another handicap for her.