New Delhi: The Congress rally scheduled at Ramlila Maidan on Sunday has acquired significance on multiple counts. For Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and his current team, the event has turned into a matter of prestige. It is expected to serve as an attempt to respond to the questions and doubts being raised within the party following the crushing defeat in Bihar.
The rally is also likely to offer clarity on the future course of the INDIA alliance. Although it is formally a Congress event, attention will be closely focused on which leaders from allied parties attend and what messages they convey. After the failure of castebased politics and slogans such as “Vote thieves, leave the throne” in Bihar, it remains to be seen how much emphasis the Congress places on these issues going forward.
However, developments during the winter session of Parliament suggested that the Congress did not attach much importance to caste politics. At the same time, the slogan “Vote thieves, leave the throne” continues to remain a central issue for the party. The Congress plans to campaign across the country on this plank and mobilise public support. The rally’s slogan also revolves around “Vote thieves, leave the throne” and SIR, with the party attempting to project the BJP as winning elections by manipulating the Election Commission.
Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal and other strategists have toured various states, instructing leaders to mobilise maximum crowds. During their visit to Rajasthan, however, a senior state leader reportedly suggested that the BJP might stop buses at the border. This remark is being seen as an attempt to preemptively explain away a low turnout by alleging obstruction. Rahul Gandhi, however, is said to be in no mood to accept any excuses for poor attendance this time. The Congress expects its largest crowds to come from Rajasthan and Haryana.
Despite these efforts, the party’s recent electoral record remains bleak. Under the stewardship of Rahul Gandhi’s current strategists, the Congress has lost three Lok Sabha elections and around 98 Assembly elections over the past 11 years. The party is currently in power in only three states. Given this backdrop, many within the organisation see little hope for revival in the immediate future. Despite repeated defeats, there has been no significant change in the party’s national organisational structure.
Against this backdrop, the Ramlila Maidan rally is also being viewed as a test for Rahul Gandhi’s close aides, including K.C. Venugopal and Treasurer Ajay Maken, to assess how much influence they continue to wield within the party. The Bihar defeat has visibly impacted the morale of party leaders and workers, with disappointment prevailing across ranks. While open dissent remains limited, signs of unease surface from time to time.
Notably, MPs Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor did not attend the meeting convened by Rahul Gandhi during the winter session. Though both leaders remain in the Congress, they are widely regarded as part of the dissenting group. The BJP, meanwhile, has not missed opportunities to capitalise on the situation. After Operation Sindoor, the government sent leaders other than those suggested by the Congress on foreign delegations. Additionally, neither Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge nor Rahul Gandhi was invited to the banquet held last week in honour of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Shashi Tharoor, however, was invited from the Congress side, further fuelling internal disquiet. Party leaders and workers, it is said, are not unhappy with Rahul Gandhi personally but with the leaders who currently form his core team. Many believe that the real situation on the ground is not even reaching Rahul Gandhi, as leaders find it increasingly difficult to access him.
