Congress needs to emerge stronger amid Opposition’s bid to isolate it

NEW DELHI: Even as the Congress is preparing strategy for the big electoral battle of 2024 at Nava Raipur where its plenary session is going on, the strategy of the other parties in opposition is giving it anxious moments at the same time. Gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections next year, the opposition seems to be distancing itself from the Congress. Rahul Gandhi is said to be the main reason behind opposition isolating the Congress.
Even at the plenary session in Chhattisgarh, Congress is apparently not going to announce any PM candidate for 2024. It means Rahul Gandhi will continue to be the main power centre. Nothing could confirm and underline this fact better than Sonia Gandhi alluding to her retirement from politics, saying that her “innings could conclude with the Bharat Jodo Yatra. She described the yatra as a turning point for the party.
However, the political activities have intensified in the opposition camp. After Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), TMC launched a campaign to unite opposition sans Congress. In a significant development, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal has met with Uddhav Thackeray in what has raised concern in the Congress camp. The Aam Aadmi Party is seriously considering contesting Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) civic body polls. Kejriwal has already announced that he would be working for a political alternative at the national level for 2024. The Delhi CM is also in favour of uniting all parties in opposition leaving the Congress outside. If the MVA alliance breaks in Maharashtra, it would be a big jolt for Congress. Already, relations between RJD and JD(U) are strained in Bihar. But the question is whether these parties will be able to reach consensus on the ‘leadership’. The Congress may derive some solace from this fact. Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has once tried to galvanise support for herself. She had even once offered to the Congress that someone other than Rahul as a leader for 2024 would be acceptable for the entire opposition. The Congress did not accept that offer. Meanwhile, Telangana CM KCR has started efforts to stitch an alliance by launching his party BRS at national level. K Chandrashekar Rao is organising a big convention of opposition parties in Telangana in April. SP leader Akhilesh Yadav is also likely to launch a similar campaign to bring together opposition parties. Akhilesh will meet Mamata in March, after which the SP leader would be meeting a host of leaders from RJD and JDU. In other words, Nitish Kumar, Chandrashekar Rao, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Akhilesh Yadav are all making serious efforts to form an opposition’s joint front but all without the Congress. After the meeting between Kejriwal and Thackeray on Friday, speculation has it that the former Maharashtra CM may also join the efforts to create the front. Nitish Kumar is already pressuring the Congress to announce a leadership face for 2024 at the earliest. It is being viewed as a signal that Bihar CM might part ways with Congress.
If the parties such as TMC, SP, AAP, BRS, JDU, RJD and Uddhav come together, then the front formed would be a formidable one. These parties are stronger than Congress in their respective states. But who will be the face? This is the biggest question. Mamata, Nitish, KCR and Uddhav are some of the names who could be contenders for leadership roles in such a front. After the meeting of these leaders in March-April, the picture will be clear on that question. These parties do not want the Congress to regain its strength, as the weakness of the grand old party is the strength of these outfits.