After Karnataka campaign, Congress top brass set sight on 4 state polls in 2023

Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, disqualified Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have set their eyes on Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana which will go to elections later this year, write ETV Bharat's Amit Agnihotri.

New Delhi:The Congress top brass, including president Mallikarjun Kharge, former chief Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, have set their sight on Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana, where assembly polls will take place later this year, a day after the Karnataka campaign ended on Monday.

On Tuesday, Rahul reached Udaipur in Rajasthan to attend a training session for party workers and will also meet senior state leaders to discuss the coming polls. Madhya Pradesh unit chief Kamal Nath launched a women’s welfare scheme to target half the electorate on Tuesday a day after Priyanka announced a youth manifesto in Telangana.

Out of the four states, Congress rules in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The party directly fights the BJP in three states, MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while it faces ruling BRS in Telangana. Rahul’s visit to Rajasthan indicated his focus on the state. “Rahul is visiting the state for the first time since the Bharat Jodo Yatra. He will attend a training cum interaction camp ‘Sangam’ for the workers in Mount Abu,” AICC secretary in charge Rajasthan Virendra Rathore told ETV Bharat.

Recently, Kharge, who was busy with the Karnataka campaign as it is his home state, appointed three new AICC secretaries to assist in charge SS Randhawa in Rajasthan where the Congress is banking on the welfare schemes started by the Ashok Gehlot government. Over the past week, AICC secretaries Amrita Dhawan and Virendra Rathore have been meeting the local leaders to discuss the ground level preparations. Two weeks ago, SS Randhawa had a one on one with all the party MLAs, who have been asked to explain the state government welfare agenda to the voters.

Though the lingering Ashok Gehlot-Sachin Pilot rivalry has been a concern with the central leadership, the party has been reiterating that both were assets for the Congress. Rajasthan has a tradition of changing governments every five years but the Congress is trying hard to buck that trend.

In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress is trying hard to repeat its 2018 win. Kamal Nath, who was state unit chief then too, had brought the party to power and became CM but his government fell in 2020 after influential leader Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP. “I have launched the Nari Samman scheme today. All the women in the state are welcome to register for an allowance of Rs 1500 per month and LPG cylinders at Rs 500 when we come to power. I have asked all party workers to get registrations done in their respective areas,” said Nath.

AICC secretary in charge of Rajasthan CP Mittal said “the scheme is on the lines of women’s allowances in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka. The LPG at Rs 500 scheme is on the lines of Rajasthan.”

When Priyanka unveiled the party’s youth manifesto in Telangana on Monday, she promised a government job to the kith and kin of those who died in the movement to create Telangana state, a Rs 25,000 pension to the dependent of the martyr, unemployment allowance of Rs 4000 for youth and an e-scooter for girls above 18 years.