Congress plans caste outreach for revival in UP
The Congress party in Uttar Pradesh plans outreach to caste groups to revive its presence ahead of upcoming elections, facing challenges from established rivals.
As the Congress tries to rebrand itself as champions of social justice, the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit has planned an outreach to caste groups in a bid to revive the party in one of India’s toughest electoral battlefields.
Starting from mid-October, the party unit will organize 13-15 conventions, each targeting a specific caste group such as Maurya, Kushwaha , Pasi and Nishad, Patel Lodhi, general secretary in charge of UP, Avinash Pandey told HT.
To be sure, the Congress’ revival in the largest electoral state is easier said than done. In the post-Mandal Commission era, Congress’ traditional votebase has been eaten up by Samajwadi Party, Mayawati’s BSP and the BJP.
The party has not had a chief minister in UP since December 1989 and unlike Bihar, where the party has managed to be a party of the ruling coalition, it’s been totally out of power for the past 36 years.
Congress leaders admit that the long absence from power has affected its organisation and resources. Pandey said the party is in weekly markets or local fairs and locating families of freedom fighters to build up the organisation.
Under the ongoing Sangathan Srijan programme, “the aim is to set up a five-layer party organization in the state from the state level to the polling booth level. We aim to have an organisation in 1.62 lakh booths and 19.78 lakh office bearers,” said Pandey.
The first test of the Congress’ quest for revival will be the election for 11 legislative council seats that are earmarked for teachers and graduates. The bigger test will be the panchayat election in 2026, regarded as the semifinals to the UP assembly election in 2027.
Former UP minister and senior BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh said, “the Congress does not have grassroots infrastructure on the ground. And the biggest problem for them in UP is Rahul Gandhi. So, looking at these two factors I seriously doubt that they will be able to revive in the state.”
