New Delhi, March 31 -- The Congress has become a fringe player in this crucial Hindi belt state.

The Congress' decision to contest on 17 Lok Seats out of the 80 in Uttar Pradesh seems more of an effort to mark its presence in the country's most significant electoral theatre than a step exuding confidence of a party on a revival run. Seventeen is the lowest number of seats that the grand old party is contesting in the state since Independence.

The shrinking voter base of the party and the failure of its cadre to use innovation and put in special effort to win back their confidence have reduced the Congress to just a fringe player in this crucial Hindi belt state. The party appears to have resigned to the fate of having lost political spa...