New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, is having a busy week. He will visit two important places connected to his family's history. On August 21 and 22, he will be in Jammu and Srinagar to lead meetings and plan for the upcoming Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. This region is important for the Congress party as they prepare for the polls.
After that, on August 24, Rahul Gandhi will go to Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh to speak at a "Save Constitution" event. Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, is where his ancestors, including former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi, lived during India's freedom movement. Their family home, Anand Bhawan, is still there.
These visits are meaningful because they connect Rahul Gandhi to his family's legacy while also focusing on current political challenges.
In the decades before Independence in 1947, Anand Bhawan and the adjacent house Swaraj Bhawan were the hub of the freedom movement as well as of the Congress party. Assembly polls are being held in Jammu & Kashmir, which was converted into a Union Territory in 2019 after a gap of six years and the Congress has sensed an opportunity in the border region. Accordingly, the Congress is keen to project itself as a party that has a national perspective and will never compromise on the interests of the people.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge will also attend the meetings, along with Rahul, where the high command will also obtain feedback from party workers on whether or not to have a pre-poll alliance with the National Conference.
According to new Jammu & Kashmir chief Tariq Hameed Karra, there is a need to strengthen democracy in the state but there is a shortage of time. Hence, the grand old party is focusing on fielding promising candidates to instil confidence among the voters and is working on its pro-people manifesto, which will guarantee social welfare schemes along the lines of Karnataka and Telangana.
According to party insiders, there has been a groundswell of support for the Congress since Rahul Gandhi’s nationwide Bharat Jodo Yatra culminated in Srinagar on Jan 30, 2023, and flagged the need for the people’s voice to be heard by the administration.
“The Congress alone has a presence across Jammu & Kashmir. It has a national perspective and will never compromise with any party in Delhi for narrow political gains. The visit of our top leaders will send a message to the voters and to the workers as well,” AICC functionary Ghulam Ahmed Mir told ETV Bharat.
The Congress had an alliance with the NC for the recent Lok Sabha polls, but is yet to take a final call on the matter for the Assembly polls. Earlier, there had been some talk of forging an alliance with both NC and PDP to defeat the BJP, but that issue is also pending, said party insiders.
The visit to Prayagraj on August 24 is part of a ‘Save Constitution’ drive the party had conducted during the Lok Sabha polls, which gave an unexpected 43 out of 80 parliamentary seats to the SP-Congress alliance.
“The Prayagraj Lok Sabha seat has come back to us after a very long time. That itself is an indication of change. The ‘Save Constitution’ campaign will further strengthen the party in the state. The INDIA alliance is preparing for the forthcoming Assembly bypolls in 10 seats as well as for the 2027 state polls,” AICC in-charge UP Avinash Pande told ETV Bharat.
