E-Paper
Do-or-die battle for Congress in Uttar Pradesh
The Congress, which had won 83 out of 85 Lok Sabha seats in undivided Uttar Pradesh in 1984, saw a significant decline in its fortunes by 2014, managing to win only Rae Bareli and Amethi.
Lucknow: With only one MP in the outgoing Lok Sabha and two MLAs in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly, the Congress faces a do-or-die battle in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, beginning April 19.
The Congress secured 6.36 per cent of the votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but its vote share plummeted to a mere 2.33 per cent in the 2022 UP legislative assembly polls. Any further decline in the party’s performance in the upcoming elections will result in no representation for the grand old party from Uttar Pradesh, a state that has sent nine prime ministers to the Lok Sabha. The Congress currently has no representation in the upper house of the state legislature, the legislative council of Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress, which had won 83 out of 85 Lok Sabha seats in undivided Uttar Pradesh in 1984, saw a significant decline in its fortunes by 2014, managing to win only Rae Bareli and Amethi. These two constituencies had long been considered bastions of the Congress. However, in the 2019 LS elections, senior party leader Rahul Gandhi suffered a defeat to union minister Smriti Irani in Amethi. The only Congress winner in 2019 was the party’s top leader, Sonia Gandhi, who secured victory in the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat. She has since taken the Rajya Sabha route to parliament through Rajasthan.
The foremost challenge for the Congress is not only to defend Rae Bareli but also to increase its tally in Uttar Pradesh. In preparation for the 2024 polls, the party has entered into a seat-sharing agreement with the Samajwadi Party, where it will contest only 17 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress, however, is still playing cards close to its chest and is yet to announce candidates even for Rae Bareli and Amethi. The Election Commission of India has already announced its poll programme for 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It’s high time for the grand old party to announce its candidates and take the Congress-SP alliance to the grassroots.
