Congress had broken its losing streak earlier this year, but now it is hobbled.
JAIPUR
By leading his party to a massive victory in three major Hindi belt states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proved that he is the real champion. He also strengthened the narrative that “Modi’s Guarantee” will pave the way for BJP’s victory in the 2024 general elections.
The recently concluded elections of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were important for the future politics of senior leaders. Congress’ defeat will have its bearing on party president Mallikarjun Kharge, as well as Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. At the same time, the negative outcome for Congress will have an impact mainly on Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh leaders Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh. Problems are going to increase for Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel too.
For the Congress, these defeats are bigger than the loss of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The reason is that the party had broken the four-year losing streak by winning Karnataka and Himachal earlier this year, thus raising hopes for the Congress. But everything has gone haywire now. The party is standing where it was four years ago. In these four years, instead of getting stronger, the party has become weaker day by day. Several Congress heavyweights such as Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasads, R.P.N. Singh and others have left the party.
There was a big rift in ties with key ally NCP. Somehow the party has tried to manage it. Last year, Rahul Gandhi created an atmosphere in favour of the party by organising the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra left Uttar Pradesh after the crushing defeat in 2022. She started campaigning in other states as a national leader. The party leaders grew over-confident saying that the Congress will make a comeback in 2024. Congress started targeting PM Modi in the same way as in 2018. Congress felt that Modi’s “charisma” had ended. Congress had started pinning its hopes on the Hindi belt based on the schemes of the Rajasthan government.
But not settling the disputes on time, lack of mutual coordination, forming alliance with parties that rely on appeasement politics proved costly for Congress. The biggest drawback in strategy was that Rahul Gandhi and Kharge kept targeting PM Modi more than talking about their government’s schemes. This directly benefited the BJP.
When it came to the elections of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the party trusted the leaders of these states and gave them a free hand. In Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot distributed tickets to their supporters. Similarly, in Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh and in Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel and T.S. Singh Deo distributed tickets as per their wish. Gehlot, Kamal Nath and Baghel made strategies for their respective states. The party was hopeful that the strategy of these leaders would be effective. But it did not happen as PM Modi alone overpowered everyone.
With the Lok Sabha elections a few months away, Congress does not have any issue on which it can challenge the PM. Another challenge that the Congress will face is that its leaders might be leaving it. Many of its leaders may also be looking forward to a future in the BJP.
Leaders such as Kharge, Rahul, Priyanka and Sonia Gandhi have charisma that could help the party to put up a real fight in 2024. But the situation seems to be worse than what it was in 2014. The victory in the three states also boosted BJP’s morale in states that are relatively weaker for it, like Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Bihar.