Last Updated:
While the Congress has planned an ‘EVM Jagao Yatra’, on the lines of ‘Bharat Jodo’, and invited INDIA bloc parties to join in, most of them have showed little interest
Rahul Gandhi (left) and Mallikarjun Kharge at the INDIA alliance meeting at the Parliament House complex, in New Delhi, on Wednesday. (PTI)
The picture of Rahul Gandhi at the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc meeting called by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge says it all.
He was clearly in command and outlined the plan. Sources say that Gandhi told those attending the meeting that “crony capitalism and EVMs are people’s issues”.
“When only corporates benefit and the electoral process is flawed and alternatives are denied, how can it not be a people’s issue,” he asked, said sources.
The meeting was skipped by INDIA bloc founder member, the Trinamool Congress (TMC). The party, which had skipped a meeting for the third time, told News18: “We are clear that we want to take on the Modi government on people’s issues.”
As per the TMC, issues such as crony capitalism and EVMs don’t resonate with people. “Look at the areas where Gandhi has campaigned. If what he said had mattered to people, why did the Congress lose?”
EVMS, CRONY CAPITALISM
Allies such as the TMC, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are not enthusiastic about the Congress’s “obsession” with EVMs and crony capitalism.
While the Congress has planned an ‘EVM Jagao Yatra’, on the lines of ‘Bharat Jodo’, and invited INDIA bloc parties to join in, most of them have showed little interest.
Some also asked that whether this yatra would travel through states where the Congress won the polls.
TMC sources say that the Congress needs to introspect on the loss rather than blame EVMs.
संसद में आज INDIA गठबंधन के फ्लोर लीडर्स की मीटिंग हुई।मीटिंग में नेता विपक्ष श्री राहुल गांधी और INDIA गठबंधन के नेता मौजूद रहे।
मोदी सरकार देश के अहम मुद्दों पर चर्चा से भाग रही है और सदन नहीं चलने दे रही। pic.twitter.com/fMvJJOR5Tr
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 2, 2024
ALLIES, BUT DIVIDED
Beneath the divide in the INDIA bloc is also real politik. For example, in Delhi, it is clear that AAP and Congress won’t be allies. In Bengal, the TMC and Congress can never see eye to eye. In UP, Akhilesh Yadav has said that the Congress is finished.
A few in the Congress raised their voices meekly to say that while EVMs and industrialists was a concern, the party must look at people’s issues – a hint the Rahul Gandhi coterie refused to take.
With it now being apparent that the INDIA bloc is no longer a powerful alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), will Gandhi’s obsession and belief add to the disarray?
