LUCKNOW: After putting up an intense fight against rival BJP, Congress — which was reduced to just one seat in the 2019 general election — bounced back emphatically by winning six seats in Uttar Pradesh, politically the most crucial state of the country, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The party sprung the surprise by winning five seats and reclaiming its bastion in Amethi, from where party’s poll manager KL Sharma emerged as a giant killer, handing out a crushing defeat to Union Minister and high-profile BJP candidate Smriti Irani.
Irani had defeated the then Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Amethi by 55,000 votes in the 2019 general election.
While Rahul opted for Rae Bareli, the seat which was vacated by his mother, Sonia Gandhi who decided to get routed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan earlier this margin of over 1.67 lakh votes.
Lakhanpal by a margin of over 64,000 votes.
The other seats which the party won included Sitapur (Rakesh Rathore), Allahabad (Ujjwal Raman Singh), Barabanki (Tanju Punia) besides Raebareli (Rahul Gandhi) and Amethi (KL Sharma).
As per the political experts, Congress’ performance was essentially driven by the party’s successful positioning on the national scale, besides the successful transfer of votes from its ally, the Samajwadi Party.
Congress vote share rose from 6.36 in 2019 to over 9%.
In 2019, Congress had a 6.36% vote share when contested on 67 seats. This time, it took the figure to 9% while contesting just 17 seats.
Moreover, the Congress-SP alliance succeeded in beating the BJP, which slipped to 36 in the state from 64 in 2019, through its narrative against Modi’s ‘400 paar’ call, claiming that if given that mammoth majority, BJP would change the Constitution of India to do away with the reservation for SC/ST and OBCs.
Gandhi and SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav also promised a caste census to ensure share in various caste groups in governance as per their number in the social strata. PDA also clicked with the voters, and a drift of the BSP vote bank towards the opposition alliance was visible on the ground. Moreover, the reiteration of ~8,500 monthly assistance to women Gandhi in his rallies also fetched votes.
Rise in vote share
Congress vote share rose from 6.36% in 2019 to over 9% in only 17 seats. In 2019, Cong had a 6.36% share when contested 67 seats.