Upbeat over Lok Sabha Gains, Congress Plans Strategy Sessions to Keep Momentum Going for Coming State Polls

The strategy meetings for 4 states from June 24 to 27 will be chaired by Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge who will discuss the plan for the coming polls with senior AICC and state leaders. These poll-bound states include Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana and UT Jammu and Kashmir.

New Delhi: Upbeat over the lead that the Congress has taken in the Lok Sabha elections, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and former chief Rahul Gandhi have decided to keep the momentum going for the coming assembly polls in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana and UT Jammu and Kashmir.

Accordingly, the two leaders will chair strategy meetings for Jharkhand June 24, Maharashtra June 25, Haryana June 26 and Jammu and Kashmir June 27.

Jharkhand: The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance has been in power in the tribal state since 2019 and is hopeful of returning to power in November.

The alliance suffered a jolt before the national polls when former chief minister Hemant Soren was arrested by the ED in an alleged corruption case. However, the ruling alliance was alert and elected Champai Soren as the new chief minister quickly. The BJP tried to destabilize the state government by poaching MLAs from both the Congress and the JMM but a deft handling of the crisis saved the day for the alliance which survived in the poll-bound state.

The ruling alliance campaigned over the alleged targeting of the JMM leadership by the BJP during the Lok Sabha polls but could win only 5 seats out of the 14. The JMM won 3 seats while the Congress 2. The BJP lost five seats in Tribal areas but retained 8 seats it had won in 2019 when the saffron party had won 12 out of 14 seats.

A rejig in the cabinet portfolios is also scheduled which may see the inclusion of Kalpana Soren, wife of Hemant Soren, who recently won a by-poll, and some Congress leaders, said party insiders.

“The alliance hopes to strengthen itself ahead of the state polls,” Jharkhand Congress chief Rajesh Thakur told ETV Bharat.

J&K: As per a Supreme Court directive the central government has to hold assembly elections in the UT Jammu and Kashmir by September this year. Both the regional parties NC and PDP as well as the Congress have been demanding assembly elections and restoration of full statehood since the erstwhile state was divided into two UTs J&K and Ladakh after the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status, in 2019.

The Congress fought the Lok Sabha polls jointly with the NC with both the parties contesting 3 seats each. The Congress fought in two seats in the Jammu region Jammu and Udhampur but lost to BJP. The party also lost the Ladakh seat to Independent MP from Ladakh Hanifa Jan, who was backed by the NC but has now pledged support to the Congress.

“We will discuss the alliance for the assembly polls which will be fought on local issues. We put up a good fight against the BJP in the Jammu region. As a result, the winning margin of the BJP candidates in the Jammu region came down which has made them worried. They did not field any candidates in the Kashmir region despite tall claims. We will discuss the assembly polls strategy on June 27,” AICC in charge of J&K Bharatsinh Solanki told ETV Bharat.

“The Independent Ladakh MP Hanifa Jan is a staunch anti-BJP. Therefore, he has decided to support us in Parliament,” he added.

Maharashtra: Elections for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly are likely to be held in November. The Maha Vikas Aghadi including the Congress-Shiv Sena UBT-NCP-SP has already sounded the poll bugle and said the alliance will defeat the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP combine in the coming polls.

“After the strategy meeting in Delhi work on the seat-sharing formula and a common minimum program to flag the focus of the new government will be started,” former chief minister Prithiviraj Chavan told ETV Bharat.

In the previous 2019 national polls, the BJP had won 23 out of the total 48 seats in Maharashtra while its ally undivided Shiv Sena had won 18 seats. In contrast the Congress could win only 1 seat and the NCP 4 seats.

In the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls, the BJP won 105 seats out of total 288, undivided Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54 and Congress 44 seats.

The BJP and Shiv Sena were allies but parted ways after the assembly polls. The Shiv Sena joined hands with the NCP and Congress to form the MVA which was in power till 2022.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress emerged as the single largest party with 13 of the total 48 seats while Shiv Sena UBT got 9 and NCP-SP 8. The lone Independent MP from Sangli seat Vishal Patil has pledged support to the Congress.

In contrast, the BJP won only 9 seats and its allies Shiv Sena Shinde got 7 and Ajit Pawar led NCP only 1.

“The rift in the ruling alliance is obvious. The BJP simply dropped Ajit Pawar’s NCP in the Union cabinet formation. Let us see what happens,” said Chavan.

Haryana: Elections for the 90-member Haryana assembly are likely to be held in November. Accordingly, the Congress high command has directed the state leaders to stay united and mobilize the workers.

The Congress, which has been out of power in Haryana over the past decade, has sensed it can regain power but needs to curb infighting visible in the past between senior leaders BS Hooda, Randeep Surjewala, Kumari Selja and Kiran Chaudhary.

“The Lok Sabha polls results have been a booster for us. We are certain to regain power in the state but we must fight as a team,” AICC in charge of Haryana Dipak Babaria told ETV Bharat.

Accordingly, CLP leader BS Hooda and state unit chief Udai Bhan are on a tour of all the districts holding workers' conclaves to thank them and motivate them for the electoral fight ahead. The drive will go on till July 14.

In the meanwhile, the Congress which benefitted by opposing the controversial defense jobs scheme Agniveer during the national polls in Haryana, has demanded that the central government should scrap the policy instead of making some amendments to it. Besides, the Congress is also planning to mobilize the farmers in the state in a big way.

The Congress had lost all 10 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 but contested 9 in 2024 as part of an alliance with AAP which fielded its nominee on the Kurukshetra seat. Out of the 9, the Congress won 5 seats while the AAP lost.

The Congress strategists are upbeat over the fact that the grand old party gained significant vote share while the ruling BJP lost vote share in all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana.

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