WHEN a party dominated by dalits—those former wretches known as
“untouchables”—swept to power in Uttar Pradesh (UP) on May 11th,
the lamentable performance of India's ruling Congress party made
headlines. Congress's campaign in UP had been run by Rahul
Gandhi, a glamorous member of the family that has ruled both
party and country. His failure to improve its abysmal fortunes
in UP, India's biggest state, suggested that Indians are out-of-
love with dynastic politics. But significant as this was, there
was a bigger casualty of the vote: the Hindu-nationalist
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).  Mr Gandhi at least maintained
Congress's toehold in UP, winning 22 of 402 seats. The BJP's
leader, Rajnath Singh, presided over an unpredicted collapse.
India's second main party, the BJP had expected to win around
100 seats and share power with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP),
led by Mayawati, or the “dalit queen”. But her party won a
majority. The BJP got a mere 51 seats—its lowest tally since
1985, which was before it rose to