It is hoping that the national narrative of the party against the BJP will persuade voters to support it in 2024 elections.
The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) is attempting to strengthen its booth committees to resurrect the state unit from oblivion.
It is also hoping that the national narrative of the party (against the BJP) will persuade the electorate to support it in the coming general elections in 2024.
To begin with, the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee has decided to organise booth meetings in all 33,530 booths across the state. A senior Congress functionary said, “Local elections are coming. We are setting up preparations for that. Besides, the results of the local body polls will also be a precursor for performance in national elections. We have already held meetings in over 1,000 booths and will continue till we cover all the booths.” However, another senior leader said, “We may not be able to complete meetings in all the booths but are sure that 70% of polling stations will be covered.”
Currently, Congress has three Lok Sabha seats out of 14 in the state and is looking to eat away more seats from the BJP which has its share of nine seats.
The pursuit to hit the BJP strongly in the coming general elections also comes from the idea that there would be other Opposition parties supporting it if Opposition unity becomes successful.
Party leaders suggest that it is difficult to get the party a solid momentum. A senior office bearer said: “However, if everything goes right at the national stage, we are expecting to win 8 seats, only if people start believing that the Congress will be able to win the coming Lok Sabha elections.”
Moreover, the party has also come up with a slogan “My Booth, My Responsibility” to characterize the whole booth strengthening exercise as a serious affair. Assam Congress president, Bhupen Kumar Bhora, told The Sunday Guardian, “We have started to have meetings in our polling stations. This is the ground work we are doing. This is also to ready ourselves for panchayat elections. Every polling station will have a leader and he will be responsible for it. Earlier, this accountability was not fixed. We have authorised the party system to fix accountability which will also bring meritorious people forward. Out of all the booths, around 25,000 booth leaders are ready. Whoever wants to take responsibility of any booth, they can come to us and ask for the charge.”
The BJP has strengthened its foothold in the state after Himanta Biswa Sarma’s coming to power, owing to his strong leadership sense. A senior Congress functionary said, “People as well as the leaders in the Bharatiya Janata Party are fed up of the totalitarian reign of Sarma and want to leave the party. But people do not have a solid alternative to vote for and leaders are also in power and can’t switch parties just like that. So the situation is that if Congress becomes visible on the ground and starts connecting with people, a lot of good is expected in the grand old party’s favour.”