Last updated:January 22, 2025, 06:00 IST
By its own admission, the Congress is not confident of winning any seats, but is hoping to increase its vote share in Delhi, where it has zero MPs or MLAs.
In many states, such as West Bengal, Orissa, and Uttar Pradesh, the Congress was weakened or destroyed, allowing other parties and regional parties to grow at the expense of the Congress. (File photo/AFP)
Congress is gearing up for a major battle in Delhi. Many would argue that it was a bit late, but Arvind Kejriwal did not stop attacking the Congress, and the great old party became determined to counter the attack on the Congress.
Sources said that Rahul Gandhi had argued in the meeting that there was no point in pursuing a coalition government at the expense of the ‘astiva’ (existence) of the Congress. Only the Congress can take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the national convention. Rahul Gandhi said that if the Bharatiya Janata Party loses its presence, it cannot replace the Bharatiya Janata Party and it cannot protect the Constitution. In the state.
In many states, such as West Bengal, Orissa, and Uttar Pradesh, the Congress was weakened or destroyed, allowing other parties and regional parties to grow at the expense of the Congress. For example, it is the Aam Aadmi Party that has grown at the expense of the Congress in Delhi and Punjab. So are their vote banks, with many in the party like Ajay Maken feeling that the Congress should not have gone soft on Mr Kejriwal even though he was part of the Indian bloc. .
Despite Mallikarjun Kharji publicly disparaging Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to reassure Mamata Banerjee during the Bengal Lok Sabha polls, she is against the Congress. Many people gave feedback that it was not forgiving. In fact, the Trinamool Congress is leading this call to make Mamata the face of the Indian bloc, citing the poor poll performance of the Congress as the reason why it is not a force to counter the Modi factor.
This, along with the fact that many allies like the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and TMC supported the AAP in Delhi over the Congress, explains why other bloc members are not following the coalition principle. It makes Gandhi feel that only the Congress has to act. Should we expect this to follow?
Therefore, it will take several steps to stick to its plan of making its presence felt in Delhi. Ajay Maken, who was earlier stopped from revealing about Kejriwal, will now do so. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hit the streets. Rahul is expected to hold several meetings in Muslim-majority areas and places where Dalits and OBCs are important vote banks.
Priyanka is also expected to run an election campaign aiming to win women’s votes.
But will the Congress’ belated fight help the Bharatiya Janata Party or hurt Kejriwal? The Congress, by its own admission, is not confident of winning seats, but is hoping to increase its vote share in Delhi, where it has zero MPs or MLAs. For Congress, this would be a start. A senior Congress official told News18: “Even if the BJP wins this time, it will win next time. But more than that, AAP’s loss means there will be only two players in Delhi – the Congress and the BJP, and we will be back in the game.” It will be.”
The Congress also hopes that AAP’s defeat in Delhi will make it easier for the party to operate in Punjab. Hence, there is a need to make Delhi’s ‘Dangal’ a three-way battle.
