The Congress Plenary at Raipur had thrown up some clear goals and route maps for 2024 election. Similarly, in 2018, the Congress Plenary in the same manner stated that BJP will easily be defeated and people are tired of it and Congress will win. The result of 2019 gave the BJP over 300 MPs out of 544 MPs.
The entire Congress Plenary seems to be more about Narendra Modi. Of course, some objectives were stated, if Congress won power. But the basic theme of the Plenary was that Narendra Modi must be defeated. There is total obsession with Narendra Modi by the Gandhi family.
But India is a free country and anyone can say anything they want.
1. The Plenary said that there is total un-employment in the country and that law and order has broken down and that there are vast social divisions.
2. The Plenary also focused on alliances and unity of the Opposition. The Congress openly admitted that it cannot get a majority and only Opposition unity can defeat the BJP.
3. The Congress also said that only the Congress is large enough to lead the Opposition. The Congress said that it will make efforts to reach all Opposition parties for unity.
4. There were many speeches praising the Gandhi family and ignoring everyone else. After his speech, Congress President Kharge was silent and forgotten.
5. The Bharat Jodo Yatra of Rahul Gandhi was greatly praised and the Plenary said that the Yatra showed that Rahul Gandhi has revived the sinking Congress by walking for 130 days.
6. The sycophants also stopped elections to the Congress Working Committee, which would have energised the Congress. The sycophants were worried that they will not win any seat. A great chance for energising Congress was lost at the plenary.
Problems for the Congress:
a. To secure Opposition unity would mean making concessions to many political parties. Unless the Congress agrees to concede many points, there won’t be Opposition unity.
b. To get Opposition unity in Uttar Pradesh, Mayavathi must be included. Mayavathi has openly said that she will join an alliance only is she is declared the Prime Minister candidate. Without Mayavathi , there can be no Opposition unity in the largest state of India.
c. If Congress wants unity in Telengana, it must have an alliance with KCR party. Congress will get about 30 MLA seats and will have to support KCR in 90 seats. If KCR wins state elections, then he will have 6 months time to decide whether he wants an alliance for Parliament. So the gain will be entirely KCR’s. KCR also knows that if the Congress captures Delhi, he will be in trouble.
d. For unity in Bengal, Congress must play only a small role. More importantly, Mamata Banerjee is totally against Rahul Gandhi becoming prime Minister. On February 23rd, 2023, Rahul Gandhi abused Mamata Banerjee by name.
e. To unite with Arvind Kejriwal, Congress must agree to a very small role in both Punjab and Delhi. For a few MP seats, Congress will have to close its offices in Punjab and Delhi, just like in Telengana and Tamilnadu.
f. To get unity, most importantly, Congress must declare that Rahul Gandhi will not be the Prime Minister candidate at all. That will be a big price for the Congress to pay.
Will Congress dump Rahul Gandhi to defeat Modi?
Of course, if any Congressman even thinks of dumping Rahul Gandhi, he will be evicted immediately out of the party. But if Congress says that Rahul Gandhi is its Prime Minister candidate, other Opposition parties don’t want it. This is a very big dilemma for the Congress. But the Gandhis are acutely aware that if they say that Rahul Gandhi is Prime Minister candidate, then there will be no opposition unity.
To avoid this challenge, the Congress is simply saying that the Congress will lead the Opposition, but will not name the leader now. The cunning idea is that after the elections if Opposition defeats BJP, then Rahul Gandhi will claim the crown.
Rahul Gandhi expected that all opposition parties will join him on Bharata Yatra and there will be a “Pattabhiskeham “ . The fact that no important leader joined Rahul Gandhi on the yatra shows that they have a deep suspicion of Rahul Gandhi. The Opposition wants to defeat Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi.
Strangely, the only aim of the Congress seems to be to make Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister. But even in the present alliance of the Congress, there are people like Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray who want to become the Prime Minister. These leaders show loyalty in the open, but secretly, they encourage other Opposition leaders to oppose Rahul Gandhi.
Who will win in 2024 is difficult to determine as it is very far away. For Rahul Gandhi, the choices are very difficult. For Opposition unity, Rahul Gandhi must give up his ambitions. But if Rahul Gandhi favors his ambitions, there will be no Opposition unity. Then there is also the nightmare for the Gandhi family that Narendra Modi might win a third term and decline of the Congress will continue.
To make the right decisions, one should not be surrounded by sycophants, coteries and crooks. A 2-kilometre road of 7000 Kgs of red roses, worth Rs.45 lakhs was laid for Priyanka Gandhi ‘s welcome in Raipur.
Will such sycophants help you make the right choices?