Team Congress must not entertain any complacent view on its electoral performance in 2024, since it is not yet out of the woods. Its national vote share of 19.46 per cent in 2019, has just grown a little to 21.19 per cent in 2024. It is far below than its chief competitor BJP in national politics whose vote share is still36.56 per cent, only a little lower than 37.30 per cent it had bagged in 2019, though it has lost its majority in the Lok Sabha where its strength has reduced from 303 in 2019 to just 240.

Congress has staged a comeback in the North East, but it needs to take note of its politically stagnant position in the largest state Assam in the region. Party’s tally from the state remains the same at 3 in 2024, as it was in 2019. Congress vote share in the state has also increased only a little from 35.44 per cent in 2019 to 37.48 per cent in 2024. BJP’s vote share is little less at 37.43 per cent but it was able to win 9 seats. It clearly indicates Congress’s organisational weaknesses in large part of Assam right upto booth management level. It was a clear signal that highly communal pitch of state CM and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma did not attract more people in favour of the BJP than the secular Congress pitch, and bulldozer politics.

Manipur has been reeling under communal violence for about a year now under the double engine government of the BJP both in the state and at the Centre. The communal Hindutva campaign of the BJP did not work there and both the seats were won by the Congress this time. INC was able to bag a vote share of 47.59 per cent. Congress had failed to win any seat from the state in 2019.

NDA tally in the North East has dropped to 15, factoring SKM is Sikkim, from 18 in 2019, and Congress’ ending up it losing streak in 25 years in Tura, 20 years in Nagaland, 15 years in Dhubri in Assam, and five years each in Inner and Outer Manipur, the INC still needs much to work in the North East to remaining dominance of the BJP in the region. The region seems to have voted against the division of the society, which the Congress should more effectively capitalize. Congress won 1 out of 2 seats and 34.05 per cent votes in Meghalaya where it needs to improve. Tripura remains a challenge for the INC, since both the seats have been won by the BJP that bagged 70.72 per cent of votes. INC’s votes share is mere 11.49 per cent.

West Bengal has shown that Congress made a strategic mistake by not aligning with TMC, an INDIA bloc ally. INC could win only 1 seat from the state and its vote share has dwindled to just 4.68 per cent. BJP was able to win 12 seats with 38.73 per cent of vote share, chiefly because TMC and INC contested separately. TMC could win 29 seats with 45.76 per cent votes share. INC therefore should learn a lesson that being the biggest political party in INDIA bloc, it has the biggest responsibility to take other constituent parties along. TMC offered Congress 2 seats and it could have gone to three or four even, But state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury’s anti-TMC position spoiled the talks.

Similar responsibility is to be shouldered in case of Bihar. Nitish Kumar left the INDIA alliance on the eve of election. Now he may be brought into INDIA fold to prevent Narendra Modi to form and run his government. Bihar result shows that INDIA bloc needs to be strengthened. Even in Jharkhand, there is much scope of strengthening INDIA bloc, since BJP was still able to win 8 seats out of 14 with 44.60 per cent vote share.

Uttar Pradesh presents an example of how Congress can do wonder, if it allies with regional parties amidst the present political scenario in the country. Despite high pitched communal campaign of PM Narendra Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath and their Ram Temple and bulldozer culture, BJP lost almost half of their seats tally. Congress and SP won 37 and 6 seats respectively with their respective vote share of 33.59 per cent and 9.46 per cent. BJP had won 33 seats with a vote share of 41.37 per cent. Congress here needs to strengthen its organization.

In neighbouring Hindi Heartland states Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, INC suffered chiefly due to organizational weaknesses. In Madhya Pradesh, the state Congress leadership was seen trying to shift to BJP, during election, was the last straw, which enabled BJP to sweep all 29 seats. Organisational strength in another Hindi Heartland state Rajasthan was better, and hence Congress performed better. In all these three states, Congress is the lone political challenger to the BJP, and hence need special attention. It should be noted that BJP’s vote share in Chhattisgarh is 52.65 per cent, in Madhya Pradesh 59.27 per cent, and in Rajasthan 49.24 per cent. Obviously, INC needs to work hard in these states.

Delhi, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh also present organizational weaknesses of the Congress which includes infighting which enabled BJP to win all seats in these states. Focus on Haryana and Punjab produced dividends for the Congress, but infighting also remains a problem there.

INDIA alliance coordination in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu must be replicated by Congress elsewhere in the country, while infighting like in Karnataka to be avoided. Since Congress and INDIA bloc has emerged after the 2024 Lok Sabha election as the defender of the democracy, secularism, federalism, and the Constitution of India, it has a further responsibility to take it ahead to consolidate on its track against communalism and authoritarianism.

Congress, as the largest political party in the INDIA bloc, has greatest responsibility not only in this regard but also on programmes of improvement of living conditions of the people of this country with focus on employment, narrowing the inequality, and elimination of dependency on free food of about 60 per cent of the population of the country by poverty eradication. The responsibility should be shouldered within and outside the Parliament of India and in governance. (IPA Service)