After the electoral success in Karnataka, the Congress has started preparations for the assembly elections to be held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The party will start a two-day brainstorm on its preparations and electoral prospects from Friday. According to sources, the Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan units of the Congress will separately discuss their preparations and steps to be taken today i.e. on Friday. Apart from this, the party will hold a strategic meeting on Chhattisgarh on 27 May. Strategy meetings for Telangana and Mizoram will be held later.
In fact, the Congress is buoyed by its electoral victory in Karnataka. Karnataka voted for the assembly elections on 10 May. This time Congress got 135 seats with a huge majority in Karnataka. BJP had to satisfy with 66 seats. Apart from this, JDS won 19 and others four seats.
Now the Congress has started preparing for the next round of assembly elections in three states. Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge will lead these meetings. Election strategist and former aide of Prashant Kishor, Sunil Kanugolu will be part of the discussions with state unit leaders to chalk out a strategy for the party’s preparations for the next round of assembly polls.
Mallikarjun Kharge will hold separate meetings with party leaders from these states at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters. Chief ministers of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, state unit chiefs or in-charges and senior leaders from the respective states are expected to attend the meetings. During this, the success and impact of ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ which passed through Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan can also be discussed.
There is a Congress government in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Here the party is hoping to overcome the anti-incumbency wave and factionalism by repeating the Karnataka strategy. The party is making every effort to make a comeback in Madhya Pradesh as well. Assembly elections in five states – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram – are due by the end of the year. Congress is leaving no stone unturned this time.
Dealing with the ongoing tussle between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan is a big challenge for the party. The war between Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Minister TS Singhdev is well known. In Madhya Pradesh too, there is factionalism between Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh. State Congress chief Revanth Reddy is facing infighting in Telangana.
In Karnataka, the party gave five guarantees to the people. This benefited the party in the elections. After its success in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, the Congress may extend this policy to other poll-bound states. The party is in direct contest with the BJP in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Telangana is witnessing a triangular fight between the Congress, the BJP and the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
