JAIPUR: Ahead of the Assembly elections in five states, Congress is trying to make inflation a major poll issue.
Keeping this in mind, the party is organising on Sunday, December 12, 2021, a national rally in Jaipur, which will be attended by party chief Sonia Gandhi, former chief Rahul Gandhi, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress MPs, AICC officials, and former Union ministers.
Although the rally is projected to be against the NDA government at the Centre, it is believed to have two major objectives — to showcase Congress as the biggest force in the Opposition and to present Rahul Gandhi as the biggest leader of the Opposition.
The rally happens at a time when the leadership of Congress in the UPA and its status as the single largest opposition party are being challenged, that too from the constituent parties of UPA and regional parties.
With West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee virtually challenging the Congress leadership of the UPA, the anti-inflation rally in Jaipur is aimed at proving that the real strength and leadership ability of the opposition camp is still with the Congress.
Along with this, the rally will project Rahul Gandhi as capable of challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Congress wants to re-establish ‘Brand Rahul’ once again through the mega show on Sunday.
The rally will also decide the party’s internal political line along with Congress’s fight against the Centre. Rahul has been kept as the focal point of the rally to be held at Vidhyadhar Nagar Stadium in Jaipur.
Banners, posters and huge hoardings, Rahul has been highlighted more than Congress President Sonia Gandhi. His photos are bigger than those of the Congress president. Big cut-outs of his have also sprung up at the venue.
According to sources, leaders are trying to build a consensus to project Rahul as the national president of the party — a post he had given up after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Dissident leaders, especially the G-23, had raised questions on the functioning of the organisation and election of the national president. Now, branding of Rahul is being done just before the organisational elections.
Experts believe that it is not easy to mobilise crowds in Delhi. That’s why Rajasthan is deemed as a more favourable venue.
After the cabinet expansion, the ongoing conflict between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot has settled down in Rajasthan. So the responsibility of staging a successful rally rests on CM Gehlot.