The Chintan Shivir in Udaipur signals the start of the 2024 general election push by the Congress party. The main plan announced by its leader Rahul Gandhi at the conclave attended by over 400 senior party leaders from across the country is his nation-wide Yatra from October to reconnect the party with the people. October was also the time set for the completion of the organizational polls. Overall, the Chintan Shivir turned out to be a build-up for Rahul Gandhi. His selection or election as Congress president is just a matter of time.
The party has made the right moves in several respects as it brain-stormed in the past three days about its future. The ‘One leader, one post’ rule has been agreed upon, more or less. The ‘one family, one ticket’ norm was backed by Rahul Gandhi, stressing that at any rate more members from the same family cannot contest polls without them having worked for the party for, say, a minimum of five years. The Nav Sankalp roadmap that the party laid out will mean massive reforms for the Congress, including the setting of an age-bar for leaders to hold positions. Congress also plans to ensure the SC-STs, BCs and the minorities would get half the space in all party committees – an attempt to neutralize the BJP’s influence among the poor and weaker sections. The idea is to win back the poor and the disadvantaged on to the side of the Congress. Equally importantly, reform of the organisation will also make the Congress look young – filling its ranks with youth power – and this is advantage Rahul.
In the evolving scenario, it is likely that the next parliament polls could as well be a presidential form of contest between two principal adversaries – Rahul Gandhi and PM Modi, irrespective of whether or not Modi will seek a third term. The PM has made it clear that he does not intend to call it a day too soon; a warning to PM post aspirants within the BJP or the central government. By all reckoning, the Rahul Yatra that starts in October is programmed in ways that would put Rahul Gandhi as the principal challenger to the BJP in 2024. He has stressed that the regional parties cannot carry conviction in the coming polls also as they do not have any ideology to uphold, unlike the Congress. The regional parties were, obviously, banking on the complacency of the Congress leadership to get its act together. A change to this scenario, as is envisaged now, will make a big difference, though the BJP still remains unassailable.
