The Congress has decided to celebrate its foundation day on December 28 in Nagpur with a massive rally that the leadership sees as the battle cry for the 2024 parliamentary elections.
Foundation days are usually marked by an inconsequential half-hour ritual rushed through in Delhi but the party has envisaged a grand public rally this time, imagined as an ambitious political project to lift the morale of party workers who are feeling enervated after the shock defeats in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Party leaders are treating this as the launch of the 2024 campaign.
While the choice of Nagpur, where the RSS headquarters is located, is driven by a larger plan for subtle messaging, realpolitik too is a major factor because the Opposition combine INDIA has identified Maharashtra as one of the key battlefields of 2024.
Along with the Shiv Sena, the BJP had cornered 41 of the 48 seats from Maharashtra in 2019. The Opposition alliance believes it is in a position to substantially whittle down the NDA’s tally this time despite splits in the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar camps.
The Congress has strong pockets of support in Vidarbha, and a hugely successful rally in its nerve-centre Nagpur may set the tone for the future campaign. Maharashtra leaders have already been asked to start preparations on a war footing and mobilise around 10 lakh people for the meeting. Anything less than 6-7 lakh will not be acceptable, the high command has conveyed to the local leadership.
The other states where the Opposition combine believes the BJP is vulnerable and where its seats can be sliced away are Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Karnataka. Insiders believe the central leadership has seriously analysed the causes of the poor performance in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and found specific deficiencies and follies of the local leaderships that are going to be rectified. The party believes it can recover a lot of ground in these states as well.
Party general secretary K.C. Venugopal posted this message on social media platform X on Friday: “Chaired an important meeting with senior leaders of Maharashtra Congress in Nagpur. On December 28, the Congress Foundation Day, we will be holding a mega Karyakarta Rally in Nagpur where 10 lakh plus workers from across the country will be in attendance. The entire country is in pain because of the historic levels of unemployment, price rise, hatred and a collapse of India’s democratic institutions. Through this rally, we will send a strong message to each and every Indian that this will not be allowed to go on any further and the Congress will give a new path for India’s progress.”
The INDIA parties are to meet on December 19 at the Ashoka Hotel in Delhi and draw up future plans, including the meetings for seat-sharing talks. Sources revealed that behind-the-scenes meetings had taken place and the differences that had occurred ahead of the recent Assembly elections had already been sorted out. The results have had a sobering impact on the Congress, making it more flexible on the question of coalition-making.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, who had voiced his anger at the Congress for its behaviour in Madhya Pradesh, has publicly conceded that issues have been addressed and the prospects of having alliances have increased now. Even Congress leaders believe that the contours of the alliances with different parties in the states would become clear by the year-end.
