Congress All Set for Assembly Elections ‘Semi-Finals’ Ahead of 2024 With ‘Guarantees’ & Caste Census Demand

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 9^th Oct. With the upcoming assembly elections seen as a semi-final before the general elections in 2024, the Congress is preparing to go all-out to win the high-stakes contest in five states, which will not only test the party’s hustings prowess but also determine its bargaining capacity within the INDIA bloc.

Recognizing that the assembly elections could be a game changer for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has hit the ground running in the poll-bound states, firming up its approach with “poll guarantees” and a demand for a caste census as its main political planks.

The grand old party wants to keep power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while seeking to gain control in the other three states that are polling — Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Mizoram.

With a total of 83 Lok Sabha seats in the five poll-bound states, electoral performance in these states is certain to have an impact on the legislative elections. However, the Congress won assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh in 2019, but had a poor showing in the Lok Sabha elections a few months later.

Responding to the election announcement, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge stated that the party will go to the people with strength, citing public welfare, social justice, and progressive development as its guarantees.

In an address to party leaders at a vital meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), Kharge urged unity and discipline ahead of the elections.

“As we approach the upcoming assembly elections and general elections, it is important that the party works with meticulous coordination and complete discipline and unity,” he said at the meeting.

Kharge also emphasized the importance of an effective plan for assembly elections in the five states. He emphasized new enthusiasm among cadre following convincing victory in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, while highlighting the importance of putting in “all our might” to win in the five states.

The Congress leadership is hopeful of a strong showing in the polls, but is also conscious of the huge obstacles that lie ahead in the Hindi heartland states, particularly Rajasthan.

Exuding optimism about a strong showing, Rahul Gandhi stated late last month that the Congress is almost certain to win Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, is almost certain to win Telangana, and that there is a “very close” race in Rajasthan that the party believes it will win.

When asked about the party’s chances, Gandhi stated, ” I would say, right now, we are probably winning Telangana, we are certainly winning Madhya Pradesh, we are certainly winning Chhattisgarh. Rajasthan, we are very close, and we think we will be able to win. That is what it is looking like, and by the way, that is also what the BJP internally is saying.”

A day after Gandhi made the remarks, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot declared that the party will win more seats in the state than in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

“He (Rahul Gandhi) has thrown us a challenge and we accept it. We will show him that Rajasthan will surpass MP and Chhattisgarh in the party’s victory,” Gehlot had said.

Political analysts believe the Congress faces a difficult task in Rajasthan, where the revolving door has been prevalent for nearly three decades. Though both the Congress and the BJP are embroiled in infighting, they have officially presented a united front, knowing that the election could be tight.

The Congress appears to be doing well in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. It hopes to retake power in Chhattisgarh with welfare packages for the poor, while it hopes to retake power in Madhya Pradesh after its government was deposed in 2020.

In Telangana, the Congress is trying to unseat the BRS’s dominant K Chandrashekhar Rao government, while the BJP has declared a three-cornered election.

The Mizo National Front is in power in Mizoram, with the Congress holding only five seats in the 40-member parliament, but the grand old party is hoping for a revival in the northeast with a strong showing in this state.

The success of the Congress in the assembly elections would affect not just its stature as an opposition party facing the BJP in 2024, but also its bargaining strength with other coalition partners of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive coalition (INDIA).

Significantly, seat sharing among the bloc’s partners was supposed to be finalized soon after the Mumbai meeting ended on September 1, but it appears that any significant movement on that front will likely happen only after the assembly elections, which will have an impact on the bargaining by various parties.

The Congress hopes to ride its welfare “guarantees” and caste census guarantee to ensure that it enters the ‘finals’ in 2024 as a formidable rival to the BJP rather than a minnow filling the numbers.