Congress dilemma: Long march or padyatras in UP

The Congress is in a double mind whether to take out a “long march” or undertake padyatras in Uttar Pradesh on developmental issues at a time when the BJP will play the polarisation card and the Samajwadi Party and BSP would focus on backward castes card to ensure that their votebank should remain intact in the upcoming state Assembly polls.

“A ‘long march’ (Meerut to Lucknow) would certainly help in creating a positive atmosphere. But then it has to sustain for the next three to four months and we need a charismatic leader to lead it. But undertaking padyatras could help more as this will engage aspirants and revive the will to fight,” a Congress strategist involved in UP affairs felt.

Late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar had brought the Congress back to power in Andhra Pradesh after 10 years in 2004 when he undertook a padyatra in the state in the summer before the elections.

In Uttar Pradesh, no such serious efforts have been made by Congress leaders so far, which threaten to make the party irrelevant politically. The Congress should have emerged as an alternative to the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the natural course, especially when it was in power at the Centre for 10 years continuously.

Rahul Gandhi was the party’s “face” in the last Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh who had campaigned for the party from the front but remained unsuccessful. This time, he is relying on poll strategist Prashant Kishor to deliver. Mr Kishor proved lucky for Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections and Nitish Kumar in the Bihar Assembly polls last year.

But the Uttar Pradesh battle is really a serious challenge for him in the sense that the Congress does not have a face nor a cadre to fight against the three key players.

“We have already identified candidates for 370 seats through bloc, district and PCC level, through independent surveys and a screening committee for shortlisting the party nominees would be announced soon. This means we have an organisational structure active across the state and aspirants wanting to fight the battle. This shows the Congress’ presence and relevance in the state and we have to translate it into votes,” the leader said.