The manner in which Congress mobilised its workers for the 'Vidhan Sabha Gherao' and the fact that the police had to resort to a lathi-charge and the success of the agitation against the Yogi government speak for the Congress. On the Ambedkar issue, too, the Congress is not sitting its laurels.

The Congress has all the reasons to be optimistic on the revival of the party in UP, in view of the party's good performance in the Lok Sabha elections when it won six of the 17 seats it contested. The performance of UPCC president Ajai Rai was also impressive. Rai polled more five lakh votes contesting against Prime Minister Modi and the party increased its vote-share to almost 10 percent from 2019.

To revive the party the Congress leadership has dissolved all the state and district level committees. Only UPCC president Ajay Rai and AICC general secretary in-charge of UP Avinash Pande haven't been changed. The manner in which Rahul Gandhi played the issue of the Constitution of Ambedkar will certainly help Congress to win over members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

With continuous decline in Dalit support to the BSP, there is a good opportunity for Congress to recoup its old Dalit vote-bank. The powerful Muslim community is also looking towards Congress provided Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi reach out to them. With the survey of mosques not stopping, the Muslim community is not feeling secure and they're looking on secular parties to stand for them.

It would be worth mentioning that Congress lost the support of the Hindu community to the BJP on the name of the Ram Mandir. Unless the Congress builds a strong organisation at the state and grassroots level, the strategy to recapture its old vote bank of Brahmin, Harijan and Muslims, would not be successful.

It is an established fact that the road to power at the Centre goes through UP. BJP is in power at the Centre due to the large number of BJP MPs from UP. There is a realisation in Congress leaders and workers that the party can no longer be the B-team of the Samajwadi Party. (IPA Service)