Opinion: In Congress Revamp, Signs Of Priyanka Gandhi’s 2024 Election Debut

Finally, a Congress team that will lead the party to the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Mallikarjun Kharge, elected Congress president in October 2022, may have waited months to put together this team. But is it a team that can inspire a spirited fight against a resurgent BJP in the Hindi heartland?

Soon after the list of new All India Congress Committee (AICC) office-bearers was out, some joked that the Congress had officially made known its no-go states by appointing or reappointing its pointspersons for the heartland states, where it does not fancy much of a prospect. In Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh, the Congress’s fortunes are headed south. Unless the party stitches up an alliance with the AAP (Punjab) or Samajwadi Party(UP) to restrict its losses.

Against this backdrop, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra being relieved of Uttar Pradesh has to be viewed more as a technical detail that suggests she could possibly contest from the state. Many of her supporters insist that she could debut in electoral politics from UP, no matter what the outcome. The Congress has suffered a declining vote-share in India’s most politically vital state, dropping from seven assembly seats to two in the 2022 state polls. Party sources suggest Priyanka could also contest from Telangana, where the Congress recently ousted