New Delhi: Congress leaders excited by Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vote chori’ yatra in poll bound Bihar now want to revive the oldest party by taking out a similar yatra in Odisha.
The yatra in Odisha is likely to take place in November-December and will be organised on the lines of Bihar, which will include foot marches, jeep rides and small public meetings. When asked about the yatra, Odisha’s AICC in-charge Ajay Kumar told ETV Bharat, “Everything will happen at the right time. Just wait.”
Ajay Kumar, who is part of the Bihar yatra which will conclude in Bihar’s capital Patna on September 1, said that this march of opposition parties will greatly benefit the Congress as well as the parties in the India Block.
There are a total of 243 seats in the Bihar Assembly and 122 seats are required to form a government. Ajay Kumar said, “The yatra has been very successful. It will benefit the Congress. India Block will also benefit and we will get a huge majority in Bihar.”
The Congress has been on the margins while the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was in power in Odisha, but since the 2024 assembly elections, in which the BJP came to power, the BJD’s stature has started declining. In such a situation, the old party has made its presence felt through protests against increasing crimes against women. Accordingly, vote theft, crimes against women, corruption and will be the major issues of Rahul Gandhi’s proposed visit to Odisha.
On this occasion, state unit chief Bhakta Charan Das said, “The BJP has won in Odisha by stealing the votes of the people. In last year’s assembly elections, 42 lakh votes were cast mysteriously in the evening. We will not allow this robbery of mandate in broad daylight. In the coming days, the vote theft of the BJP and the Election Commission will be exposed.” In line with Rahul’s plans, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has appointed several All India Congress Committee (AICC) observers who will suggest names of district unit chiefs to be appointed in Odisha in the next two months.
Recently, Rahul Gandhi reviewed the situation in Odisha with senior state leaders and told them that even though there are opportunities for Congress to grow in the state, hard work is needed for it.
AICC Odisha in-charge secretary Mohammad Shahnawaz Choudhary told ETV Bharat, “Rahul Gandhi’s clear message was that Odisha has potential and the entire state unit should come together to regain the state. This is our goal now. Initially, we are focusing on appointing district unit chiefs. Later, village and block level teams will be formed to strengthen the organisation.” He said, “Once the organisation is ready, several programmes including yatras will be organised.” Elaborating on Rahul’s potential in Odisha, PMC’s Adarsh said though the BJD with 51 Bhilwara seats has more leaders in the state assembly than the Congress’ 14 reserves, it is still the country’s oldest party which is playing the role of the main component both inside and outside the House.
“In the absence of a strong leadership, the BJD has become inactive. Former chief minister Naveen Patnaik is not well and his successor Pandian is not able to instil enthusiasm among the workers. BJD MLAs neither protest on public issues in the assembly nor on the streets. The Congress has become the main opposition in every sense,” Chowdhury said.
The AICC functionary further claimed that Rahul Gandhi’s rally in the capital Bhubaneswar on July 11 was a bigger success than planned.
“People came to the rally in large numbers and it was surprising for us. Moreover, our workers who were lethargic also got energised after the rally. As a result, people are now looking towards the Congress, which has been on the offensive against the BJP government for the past six months. The state government is facing criticism on several issues and has become unpopular in a year. In the coming days, many BJD leaders will join the Congress,” Choudhary said.
The 2024 assembly elections were a major setback for the Congress, which slipped to the third spot in the eastern state, where the saffron party came to power for the first time by defeating the ruling BJD. This led to a demoralisation of the state unit for months, forcing the high command to dissolve all units. However, the planned organisational revamp was delayed for several months, before Ajay Kumar was appointed AICC in-charge and Bhakta Charan Das as the chief of Odisha’s state unit.
