Delhi polls: Blanked out in last 2 elections, Congress hopes to ride on 5 sops for return to relevance

NEW DELHI: The Indian National Congress had been in power in Delhi for 15 years till 2013. Since then, it has won just eight seats, failing to secure even a single constituency in the assembly elections of 2015 and 2020. The party is now working to reinvigorate its supporters, one of the steps in this direction being the recent Nyay Yatra across the city. Congress is anticipating public dissatisfaction with Aam Aadmi Party to help it regain its electoral support.
In the backdrop of a significant decline in its vote share from 24.5% in 2013 to 9.7% in 2015 and 4.3% in 2020, Congress has a 'guarantees' campaign this year. Though the manifesto is yet to be released, the party will offer five guarantees focusing on welfare schemes and financial incentives. Party insiders indicate these guarantees were formulated through consultations and grassroots feedback.
"The campaign will highlight benefits for voters section-wise, such as villagers, women and youth," revealed Devender Yadav, president, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee.
On Monday, Congress introduced its first guarantee - monthly assistance of Rs 2,500 for eligible women under the Pyaari Didi Yojana. At a Tuesday press briefing, Dipika Singh Pandey, minister of Panchayati Raj, Jharkhand, highlighted Congress's track record of empowering women in states like Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana and in coalition govts such as in Jharkhand. "We are committed to extending the benefit of Pyari Didi Yojana of Rs 2,500 per month to every woman in Delhi when we return to power," promised Pandey.
Pandey added that the Ladli Yojana implemented by former Congress CM Sheila Dikshit in 2008-09 saw increased budget allocations every year. "From an allocation of Rs 86.4 crore in 2008-09, the amount rose to Rs 112.3 crore in 2013-14. But the first thing the Kejriwal govt did was to slash the scheme funds first to Rs 95.6 crore, then to Rs 85.30 crore," Pandey alleged. "By 2023-24, the amount was reduced to Rs 42.9 crore. This exposed AAP's attitude towards the girl child from poor families." The party leaders also talk of the massive infrastructure development Delhi saw during Dikshit's tenure and how many projects were put on hold after AAP took over.
But while old-timers miss the rapid transformation under Dikshit, 15 years of being out of power had lost Congress the connection with the voters, especially the young. The party's attack will revolve around the polluted Yamuna, pension payment glitches, crime and lawlessness and sanitation. Yadav said, "Earlier, AAP blamed MCD for these problems. But they won the civic polls and haven't made a difference in municipal administration. In contrast, Congress is known for delivering on its promises."
Congress has so far announced 48 candidates for the 70-member assembly, selecting nominees with grassroot experience such as Yadav for Badli, Abhishek Dutt (Kasturba Nagar), Haroon Yusuf (Ballimaran), Alka Lamba (Kalkaji), Anil Kumar (Patparganj) and Farhad Suri (Jangpura). In the recent years, the party has lost some prominent members to rivals, but also gained members from AAP, among them Haji Mohammad Ishraq, who was AAP MLA from Seelampur (in 2015) and is now Congress candidate from Babarpur. Abdul Rehman will fight the Seelampur constituency for Congress having won there as an AAP candidate earlier. Former AAP minister Rajendra Pal Gautam has also recently joined Congress.
There has been, concurrently, an exit of prominent figures, including former MLAs and ministers such as Arvinder Singh Lovely, Raj Kumar Chauhan, former MLA Neeraj Basoya, and five-time councillor Mukesh Goyal, who have shifted allegiance to other political parties. As Congress strives to rebuild its connections with Dalits and minority communities, the upcoming election results will reveal whether the party can succeed in regaining its political relevance in Delhi or whether it will merely be a vote cutter for AAP, perhaps to BJP's advantage.