Rahul Gandhi’s focus on marginalised communities is reflected in Congress’s recent leadership appointments and strategies.
NEW DELHI: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s emphasis on giving a larger role to people from marginalised and backward communities is now reflected in the recent appointments made in the grand old party.
In the last month, the Congress appointed senior party leader Bhakta Charan Das, who comes from the Scheduled Caste community, as the new Odisha state unit chief on February 11. This appointment came seven months after the party dissolved the entire state unit following a poor performance in both the general and Assembly polls held in May and June of the previous year.
The party also appointed former Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu, an OBC leader, as the new in-charge of Odisha.
Ahead of the crucial Assembly elections in Bihar, the Congress replaced Akhilesh Prasad Singh with Rajesh Kumar, an SC leader, as the new state unit chief.
It was almost two years ago that Gandhi, while speaking in Parliament, highlighted how out of 90 officers, only three came from the SC and ST communities. Since then, he has been raising this issue outside Parliament as well. He also advocated for a caste census, stressing the principle of “jiski jitni bhagedari, uski utni hissedari”
A party source said that this shift is visible in the party’s appointments, an indication of how the Congress aims to win back its traditional vote share from Dalits and marginalised communities, which has shifted to other parties over the past few decades.
During the Lok Sabha elections, at a time when Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav emphasised the PDA (Pichda, Dalit, and Alpsankhyak – Backward, Dalits, and Minorities), the Congress seized the opportunity to make gains in Uttar Pradesh. The party managed to win six seats, while the SP won 37 seats. The BJP, facing the I.N.D.I.A bloc, suffered a significant setback, being reduced to 33 seats.
The Congress now sees an opportunity to regain lost ground in politically sensitive Bihar, where voting along caste lines remains prevalent. By appointing Kumar as the new state unit chief, the party aims to tap into the SC community’s 19% vote share and also appeal to the OBCs, who make up around 63% of the electorate, according to the 2022 caste census.