The BJP would want to hold simultaneous elections to at least 13 Assemblies and to the Lok Sabha, but how much is the principal Opposition party, the Congress, geared to face the scenario? This was the question raised by senior party leaders after its executive committee, the Congress Working Committee, was reconstituted on Tuesday.
Resource mobilisation will be key at a time when the BJP remains the country’s richest party, said a senior leader who made it to Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s CWC list. The only resource with the Congress is anti-incumbency, he said.
The leader told
“Congress is bankrupt now. The only edge we have is political. The climb-down of Modi has started and we have seen it in Gujarat and in the many by-polls [that followed]. The BJP knows this and they will go to any extent to win votes,” said another senior Congress leader, who is also critical of the list.
The Rahul camp, however, does not see immediate elections as a possibility.
“There are States like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in BJP’s 13-States list. Why should they oblige and dissolve the Assemblies much ahead of time so that elections can be held along with the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan?” asked another CWC member, who is close to Rahul.
“It is a smaller composition. He could have taken at least ten more leaders from various arenas,” said a leader who was a minister in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet. He said the list threw up no surprises. “Look at the names from Maharashtra. Where are those senior leaders who stood with the party for years?” asked the person, who wished anonymity.
There were complaints within the Congress about the delay in reconstituting the CWC. The AICC plenary held in March had authorised Rahul Gandhi to select members to the panel.