The stage is set for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections as the Elections Commission of India on Monday declared the dates for the upcoming assembly polls to be held in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram. The polls will be held between 7 and 30 November.
Considered the litmus test before the BJP-led NDA versus INDIA bloc in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress is set to go all out to win the high-stakes contest in five states.
The Congress held their working committee meet on Monday. The grand old party has also hit the ground running in the poll-bound states and is firming up its strategy with “poll guarantees” and demand for a caste census being the main poll planks, the latter of course as result of the Bihar Caste Census success.
Congress is looking to retain power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while seeking to come to power in the other three states going to polls — Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram.
Notably, the performance of the Congress in the five state assembly polls will impact the 2024 Lok Sabha contest. The results of the five assembly elections lined up in November will be declared on 3 December. It could exhibit Congress’ prowess at the hustings but also decide its bargaining capacity within the INDIA bloc.
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Notably, in 2019, the Congress had won the assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, but had a dismal showing in the Lok Sabha elections a few months later.
According to PTI report, political observers have said that Congress seems to be facing a daunting task in Rajasthan where the revolving door trend has reigned for nearly three decades.
Though both the Congress and the BJP are facing some level of infighting, they have publicly put up a united face realizing that the election could be tight.
In Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the Congress seems to be on a better wicket. It is hoping to return to power in Chhattisgarh on the back of welfare schemes for the poor while in Madhya Pradesh it is eyeing a return to the helm after its government was toppled in 2020.
In Telangana, the Congress is seeking to wrest power from a dominant K Chandrashekar Rao government of the BRS with the BJP making it a three-cornered contest.
In Mizoram, the Mizo National Front is in power with the Congress having just five seats in the 40-member assembly, but the grand old party seeking a resurgence in the northeast with a good showing in this state.
The Congress‘ performance in the assembly polls will not only impact its standing as an opposition party taking on the BJP in 2024 but also dictate its bargaining power vis-s-vis other constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
The Congress is hoping to ride its welfare “guarantees” and caste census promise to ensure that it enters the “finals” in 2024 as a formidable challenger to the BJP and not as a minnow making up the numbers.
(With PTI inputs)
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Updated: 09 Oct 2023, 10:21 PM IST