Manish Swarup / AP

Samajwadi Party supporters, faces smeared with colored powder, celebrate election success by burning firecrackers at their party office in New Delhi, India, on March 6, 2012.

Reuters reports from New Delhi — India's Rahul Gandhi failed spectacularly to deliver a promised comeback for his Congress party in crucial state elections, casting fresh doubt on his capacity to become the next member of a storied dynasty to lead the country.

The Congress party flop in India's most politically vital state was also a blow to the already-tottering government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reducing his scope to re-launch reforms and reverse a slowdown in economic growth.

"It has been a disaster for the Congress, it's an even bigger disaster for Rahul Gandhi and the Gandhi family," political analyst Amulya Ganguli said as results came in from Uttar Pradesh and four smaller states that went to the polls.

• Indian election officials order cover-up of statues ahead of poll

With the count nearing its conclusion on Tuesday, the Congress party was trailing in fourth place in the big northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which with 200 million people would be the world's fifth-most populous country if independent.

Sajjad Hussain / AFP - Getty Images

Congress party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi (in white) comes out from his residence to address the media in New Delhi on March 6, 2012.

"I accept responsibility for the fact that we did not perform well. After all, I was the main campaigner ... the Congress party fought well, but the result is not good," the 41-year-old Gandhi said.

• Previously on PhotoBlog: Rahul Gandhi, India's 'leader in waiting', meets his people

There was also mostly disappointing news for Congress from other states that went to the polls over the past month. It was heading for a loss in Punjab, Goa and possibly Uttarakhand too, but was set to win in the far-flung border state of Manipur. Read the full story.

Rajesh Kumar Singh / AP

Samajwadi Party supporters celebrate in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, on March 6, 2012. Their victory means former wrestler Mulayam Singh Yadav will become chief minister for a fourth term since 1989, ousting the flamboyant lower-caste leader Mayawati.

Manish Swarup / AP

A woman adjusts the cap of her child as she waits in line to cast her vote in Ayodhya, India, on Feb. 8, 2012.

Adnan Abidi / Reuters

A Hindu holy man shows his ink-marked finger after casting his vote in Ayodhya on Feb. 8, 2012.

Residents in India's most populous state began voting Wednesday in a monthlong local election with repercussions for the whole nation, The Associated Press reports. Uttar Pradesh is so large, with 200 million people—enough to make it the world's fifth most populous nation if independent—that voting is spread over seven phases and will last until March 3. Results will be declared March 6.

More on the politics of Uttar Pradesh:

• Gandhi dynasty scion takes on low-caste "queen" in India vote
• India's reluctant young emperor, Rahul Gandhi
• Indian election officials order cover-up of statues ahead of poll
• Rahul Gandhi, India's 'leader in waiting', meets his people

Tsering Topgyal / AP

Workers prepare to cover a statue of Mayawati, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state, at Ambedkar Park in Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, on Jan. 10, 2012.

Manan Vatsyayana / AFP - Getty Images

Workers wrap elephant statues at the Ambedkar Park in Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, on Jan. 10, 2012. Statues of a firebrand Indian politician, Mayawati, and her party symbol of an elephant were wrapped in cloth, under laws to prevent them being used as unfair election publicity.

The Associated Press reports from LUCKNOW, India:

Workmen using truckloads of cloth raced Monday to comply with election officials who ordered a flamboyant Indian state leader to cover up a dozen large statues she erected of herself.

The Election Commission said the statues of Mayawati, who is a hero to India's lowest castes, were built using public money and their display violates rules for next month's election in her Uttar Pradesh state.

The Election Commission also said that nearly 200 statues of elephants, her party's symbol, must be covered. Read the full story.

Rahul Gandhi, the 41-year-old great-grandson of India's first ever prime minister, set out on a march through western Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, seemingly determined to align himself with the country's rural poor.

Gandhi offered his support to villagers involved in land disputes with the state government, according to a breathless report in The Times of India that described him "effortlessly jumping over mud pools" in his trek from village to village.

AP

India's ruling Congress party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, right, interacts with villagers during his 'Kisan Sandesh Yatra' or Farmers Message Campaign in Ahladpur, in the opposition-ruled state of Uttar Pradesh on July 6.

Pankaj Nangia / AP

Rahul Gandhi, front, visits Nangla Bhatana village in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, some 50 miles east of New Delhi, on July 5.

Gandhi has long been tipped as a future leader of the world's biggest democracy. "The son of Congress party president Sonia Gandhi and heir to a dynasty that has ruled independent India for almost four decades of its 64-year history, the premiership isn't just Rahul's for the taking, it's almost his birthright," Reuters reported last week.

In May, he was briefly arrested after he joined farmers protesting against land being taken over for a $2 billion highway. Reuters reported:

Ahead of a 2014 general election, Gandhi's Congress party is increasingly taking the side of farmers and others whose lands have been taken over for the highways, utilities and factories needed to power India's near 9 percent growth.

Read a 2010 profile of 'The Mysterious Mr Gandhi' in The Economist.