TN Cong on path of rejuvenation, gears up for 2024 LS polls

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Congress committee, which is on the path of a rejuvenation after several years, is gearing up for the 2024 general elections. The party will soon commence a door-to-door campaign against the Central government as a part of the state Congress mobilizing its cadre before the 2024 elections. The state Congress party, which is slowly showing signs of a revival, will be highlighting the 'anti-people' activities of the Central government.

Sources in the state Congress told IANS that after K.S. Alagiri became the state president of the party, there has been a systematic increase in the party conducting agitations against the Central government. Tamil mega star Kamal Haasan participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra of Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi is a part of the state Congress move of roping in the mega star into the Secular Progressive Alliance of the DMK of which the Congress is also part of.

The Congress party, according to the party middle level leaders, has already taken up several agitations in the state against the Union government and this has led to the party grassroots cadre getting buoyed up.

A senior leader of the Congress party from Madurai while speaking to IANS said, "When K.S. Alagiri became the state Congress chief, the party was in a total disarray and was playing second fiddle to DMK or AIADMK in Tamil Nadu politics. However, he being a go-getter, infused life to the grassroots cadre and made the mandalam committees of the party functional. This led to many agitations conducted by the party against the Central government and this has given a fresh strength to the state Congress."

He also said that the recent upsurge in the state party headquarters is a sign of the party showing signals of growth. The state Congress has not been in political reckoning since the past several years and the party has always been a lower level player in the politics of the state.

Dr. M. Mukundarajan, a retired professor of Political Science from Chennai while speaking to IANS said, "The state Congress surprisingly seems to be on the revival path. The party mandalam committees that were defunct have now started functioning and this has led to a fresh surge in the party activities. This door to door campaign will be an opportunity for the party to test the waters and find out how the people of the state will respond to this." The state Congress leaders are also keen that the feedback from the public regarding the Central government would be an ideal exercise for the party to chalk out its strategy in Tamil Nadu for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The feedback, according to senior Congress leaders, would be used by the party at the national level also to evolve a strategy to counter the dominance f the BJP-led NDA.