New Delhi, Aug 21 (SocialNews.XYZ) A political issue of his own choice and a possible poll alliance continue to be Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s endeavour, upping the cry against alleged police excesses on protesting students from Parliament earlier to a police station on Friday, to revive a party lacking effective leadership and suffering losses in subsequent elections.
While Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have denied police brutality and point to a five‑member panel set up by the Supreme Court to probe the issue, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha chooses to plough his own furrow. Through it all, Rahul has lately been projecting himself as the face of Congress strategy. He makes these interventions to frame the party as a defender of democratic rights. At the same time, alliances are meant to challenge the BJP‑led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) juggernaut.
Despite the losses, narratives and alliances remain essentially existential for the Congress, as he tries to build rhetoric that creates common ground for both voters and allies.
In last year’s Bihar Assembly election, he found the Election Commission’s exercise of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls a political issue worth taking to the hustings aggressively, despite a lukewarm response from Mahagathbandhan allies.
The constituents were already charged, basking in the glory of a close finish in the previous state poll. However, the 2025 outcome proved a disaster for the Opposition alliance, as the NDA again formed the government by a wider margin.
Now, as Uttar Pradesh, among other states, gears up for elections, Rahul is aggressively pushing the students’ issue as a political weapon, intending to take matters from Jantar Mantar to Lucknow.
He is searching for issues that resonate emotionally, particularly with younger voters, and can be framed as examples of government insensitivity. It is a gamble that seeks to connect with grassroots anger while positioning the party as a defender of democratic rights.
From Parliamentary contests to state‑level battles, the Congress has struggled to convert its legacy into votes. Each successive defeat has deepened the perception of decline, making the upcoming polls not just about winning seats but about breaking the psychological barrier of repeated losses.
Meanwhile, recognising its weakened position, Congress has increasingly leaned on alliances as a survival strategy, now with official coordination committees to manage coalition dynamics more systematically.
Following the Bihar experience, where the Congress failed to convince ally Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav to accept a larger share of seats, this appears to be an attempt to prevent last‑minute chaos.
Uttar Pradesh, with its vast electorate and significant influence on national politics, is an important state for political parties. For Congress, the state has long been a graveyard of ambitions. Once the dominant force, the party has been reduced to a marginal player, overshadowed by regional satraps and the ruling party’s formidable machinery.
By raising issues like police action against protesting students and the alleged misappropriation of Ram Janmabhoomi Trust funds, the Congress is attempting to carve out a niche. The 2024 Lok Sabha results in Uttar Pradesh came as a pleasant surprise for the Congress in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP), though the much‑touted “UP ke ladke” Rahul Gandhi‑Akhilesh Yadav combine failed to prove effective in earlier Assembly elections.
The prospective coalition is now leaning on the incumbency factor that the duo perceives after two straight BJP wins in a state that has never witnessed such a feat before. With such issues and the existing caste and religion factors, the alliance is leaning heavily on a victory, even if close.
Thus, Rahul Gandhi is trying to rework the strategy, leaning on structured coalition‑building while also trying to craft a narrative that resonates with voters.
Source: IANS
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