Congress back in game with 'booster dose'

New Delhi: The Congress victory in Karnataka, its first big state since 2018, puts the party back in the game for general elections as it re-establishes primacy in the opposition space that is currently vastly fragmented despite efforts to cobble up a united front against the BJP. The party wresting Karnataka, the only state ruled by the BJP in southern India, has provided the much-needed boost ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election while also underscoring the importance of giving precedence to regional leadership as the Congress seeks to reclaim its political turf.

The Karnataka strategy of hyper-localised campaign, a bold gambit of a proposed Bajrang Dal ban, five guarantees of doles, and deft handling of caste and class combinations and issues, could serve as a template to counter the hitherto successful blend of BJP's "welfare outreach" and Hindutva politics. The Congress' efforts to connect with the masses with Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra - the party won over 15 of the 20-plus assembly seats from where the yatra passed - and the year-long campaign on the issue of corruption also played an important role in wooing voters as its vote share increased by over five per cent.

The template, if perfected, would hold the Congress in good stead later this year when it fights key elections in Telangana and Madhya Pradesh as also in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, where it is in power. The party on Saturday projected the win as the victory of "poor over rich" - seen as an attempt to reshape the political narrative to take on the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who has been unrelenting in his attack on the BJP over the alleged "divisive" agenda", said it was a victory of love over hate and that it will be replicated in other states. He said he was happy that the party ran a positive campaign against BJP's polarisation efforts.