Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Kishori Lal Sharma (Image: PTI)
Now that it’s clear that Priyanka Gandhi will be seen soon in the Lok Sabha considering that Wayanad should be a cakewalk for her, the Congress plans to fight out the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with its trio.
The Congress has a plan for Parliament as the first session post Lok Sabha Elections 2024 is set to begin on June 24. The party is battle ready and the only decision which it was waiting for was on whether Rahul Gandhi would leave Wayanad or Raebareli as MP. Now that it’s clear that Priyanka Gandhi will be seen soon in the Lok Sabha considering that Wayanad should be a cakewalk for her, the Congress plans to fight out the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with its trio.
First, armed with 100 seats and a narrative that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has no mandate, the Congress’s floor strategy will centre around Rahul Gandhi. He will be the “man who dared to take on Modi in the 2024 polls.” So, even if he does not become the Leader of Opposition in Parliament, as many in the party want him to, he will, for all practical purpose, be the epicentre.
Then comes Kishori Lal Sharma, who is now the Amethi MP. The absence of former union minister Smriti Irani from the treasury benches and Sharma’s sitting with Gandhi is sweet revenge enough for the Gandhis and Congress. Sharma may not speak much, but his silence will be projected by the Gandhis and Congress as a big win. The icing on the cake will be Priyanka Gandhi’s debut to Parliament politics if she wins Wayanad.
A better and more aggressive orator than Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka is bound to stand up and hit back at the BJP, specially the Prime Minister, and she will be the woman trump card for the party.
The Congress’s plan is captured in the new slogan coined by them – that this is a government which is run by 1/3rd Prime Minister. It wants to recreate the UPA-II perception and the image of being a government which is facing policy paralysis. So even if the government does not fall, the Congress hopes to do to the NDA what happened to the UPA on its last leg. This is also the reason why it has hit out at some ministers even before they took oath like Railways Minister Ashwani Vaishnav and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Slowly, it aims to chip at the BJP’s top leaders.
But perception creation is not enough. The real battle is in the battlefield. And, this is what the BJP is working upon. The Congress trio have a challenge ahead.
