The country’s oldest political party, Congress, is trying to find its support base which had slipped from Uttar Pradesh three decades ago. After the Congress experiments in election after election, it is facing a battle for survival. Congress also has its eyes fixed on the Muslim vote bank. In such a situation, Congress is also trying to gather the strength of the backward classes by allying with SP.
Alok Mishra, Lucknow:
The country’s oldest political party, Congress, is trying to find the support base that it ‘lost’ from Uttar Pradesh three decades ago. Congress may not have been able to regain its lost ‘strength’ after election after election, but this time it faces a battle to save its ‘existence’.How big will be the victory in Rae Bareli and getting back its traditional seat Amethi? This question is the biggest challenge for Congress at present, which is troubling every ‘big’ member of the party internally.
An Experiment was Conducted with a Pair of Two Youths:
In the 2017 assembly elections, Congress conducted an ‘experiment’ by combining with SP in Uttar Pradesh. A pair of two young people. That is, Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav had contested the elections together. However, this pair could not perform any miracle then. This time the election ‘arena’ has changed but Congress’s ‘bet’ is old. This time, before the Lok Sabha elections, Congress tried to give a big message to the upper class by appointing Ajay Rai as the state president and Avinash Pandey in charge.
Congress Eyes Muslim Vote Bank:
Congress also has its eyes fixed on the Muslim vote bank. In such a situation, Congress is also trying to gather the strength of ‘backward’ by allying with SP. Now it remains to be seen how the Congress, riding on the old boat of the alliance, spreads its candidates on the seats allotted to it this time. After a long tussle, SP, which became a part of the opposition alliance INDIA, has given 17 seats to Congress. This is also clear from how rapprochement occurred between the two parties. That SP was successful in putting pressure on its allies. Whatever may have been the circumstances, apart from its two traditional seats, Congress has got 15 such seats, in which for victory it may have to depend on the caste arithmetic which is a part of the new equation.
The Falling Graph also Lowered Morale:
Congress’s vote percentage in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was 7.53. Then Congress could win only two seats, Amethi and Rae Bareli. Talking about the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi had to face defeat in the Amethi seat. The party could win only one seat of Rae Bareli. Congress got about 6.36 percent votes. Earlier, Congress had won a record 21 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Whereas in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, it won nine seats and the party got about 12 percent votes.
