Congress Appoints 75 Observers In UP To Bolster Organisation Ahead Of Dec 18 Lucknow Protest

Congress appointed 75 senior leaders as observers in Uttar Pradesh's districts, revamping state panels to strengthen its organization ahead of the December 18 Lucknow protest.

New Delhi:The Congress has appointed 75 senior leaders as special observers for the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh to test its organisational abilities ahead of the December 18 protest the grand old party plans to stage in the capital Lucknow. The mega protest was announced days after Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge disbanded all the committees of the state unit and ordered the panels to be recast by January 2025. The state panels were dissolved as they had become infructuous and had members only on paper, said party insiders.

Accordingly, the 75 special observers have been tasked to mobilise support for the December 18 event when the Congress will protest in front of the state assembly to present itself as a strong opposition in the BJP-ruled state. The move stems from the party’s desire to challenge the ruling party in the 2027 assembly elections.

“The December 18 protest is going to be a major one. People from all the districts will join the protest. We will raise issues like joblessness, price rise, the plight of farmers and law and order that are directly affecting the people,” AICC secretary in charge of up Tauquir Alam told ETV Bharat.

After the Congress performed badly in the recent round of state elections, it was thought that the party needed to revisit its up strategy especially when Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi was the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.

Though the Congress and ally SP were able to limit the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, the high command was keen to address its organizational gaps in the state.

“All the 75 observers are rooted in their regions. They will coordinate with the local workers and contribute to the Dec 18 protest. The Congress will raise the issues affecting the locals,” senior state leader Vivek Bansal, who has been named observer for Mathura district, told ETV Bharat.

“The opposition must be seen taking up the problems of the people,” he said. Party insiders compared the mobilization for the Lucknow rally as a kind of war game which would test the Congress’ ability to stage large-scale protests in the state. The move will also help identify new faces in each district who might be included in the new party panels, the insiders said.

State unit chief Ajay Rai, a confidante of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, is personally supervising the preparations for the mega protest to prove a point to the high command as he lacks a pan-up influence.

Though the Congress is keen to strengthen its alliance with SP, the grand old party knows well that it must expand its support base to be counted in the state which sends the highest number of 80 members to the Lok Sabha. For that reason, it has not planned a joint protest with the SP.

“This is going to be a Congress-only show,” said Bansal. Rahul and Priyanka recently tried to visit the violence-hit Sambhal in western UP but were not allowed by the state administration. Rahul then met victims of the Sambhal area in Delhi and later visited Hathras to express solidarity with victims who have been awaiting justice over the past four years.