NEW DELHI: With its newly-coined slogan, ‘We are ready’, the grand-old party has set the ball in motion for the upcoming general election and has its task cut out for 2024. However, the question is whether the party is battle-ready after suffering humiliating defeats in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh in the recent Assembly polls. With hardly four months to reverse its fortunes before the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for April-May 2024, party leaders say they are ready for the challenges and have contingency plans.
At the current political juncture, the party hopes to draw a sense of purpose from Rahul Gandhi’s proposed ‘Bharat Nyay Yatra’, to be flagged off from Manipur on January 14. The party leaders point out that besides regional factors, Gandhi’s first leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra considerably helped the party to clinch electoral successes in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.
Though the setback in the three heartland states flummoxed the central leadership, it showed some urgency by revamping the AICC secretariat, convening the CWC, and setting up a National Alliance Committee for alliance talks. But the actions lacked a coherent agenda or direction, says a leader.
“It was believed that the party would show signs of revival with a non-Gandhi as president. But the stagnation at the organisational level continues,” says a leader, referring to Mallikarjun Kharge’s leadership.
Except for the appointment of Sachin Pilot as the general secretary in Chhattisgarh, nothing significant was on offer, many say. While the BJP has experimented with fresh leadership in three states, the revamped AICC reflects Congress’s resistance to inducting new and young leaders.
Many leaders are livid that the party is yet to devise a strategy for more than 200 Lok Sabha seats where it will be in direct contest with the BJP. Though senior leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, have expressed disappointment over its recent drubbing in three states, very little has been done to revive the party ahead of 2024. Though OBC leader Jitu Patwari has replaced Madhya Pradesh’s former CM Kamal Nath as the state unit chief, the rift in Rajasthan is yet to be addressed, and it will play out during Lok Sabha polls as well, says a senior leader.
Though Pilot has been moved out of Rajasthan, the party may see fresh trouble over the CLP leader as Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy are keen to push their candidates. Seat sharing among INDIA allies will be another uphill task for Congress ahead of the polls. The 28 parties in the bloc account for less than 200 of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha.