On April 3, when Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge walked into the narrow lanes of Usmanpur in North East Delhi to launch the party’s ‘Ghar Ghar Guarantee’ programme, it was also a trip down memory lane.
It was in this very area nearly five decades ago that the Congress’s hand symbol was used in an election for the first time. It was for a byelection from the Ghonda assembly seat—wherein Usmanpur lies—to the then Metropolitan Council in 1978. After the Congress split in 1977, and when the Devaraj Urs faction took the ‘cow and calf’ symbol, Indira Gandhi chose the hand.
And if she was looking to make a comeback after her loss in 1977, the Congress finds itself in an even more critical situation now.
Take, for instance, North East Delhi. The constituency of slums and resettlement colonies was once a Congress stronghold. It now votes AAP in the assembly and BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has once again fielded popular Bhojpuri singer and actor Manoj Tiwari from the seat, which is home to a sizeable population of migrants from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
But with the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Congress sniffs a chance to win back the constituency. Hence the decision to launch its ‘Ghar Ghar Guarantee’ programme from the area. As part of the outreach effort, the party is distributing guarantee cards that list the party’s five main poll promises. While Kharge launched the initiative in Usmanpur, Rahul Gandhi did so on the same day in Wayanad, from where he is contesting. This, said a senior Congress leader, was done to balance north and south.
As part of the programme, party workers will go to eight crore households with the guarantee cards. The idea behind the campaign is to mobilise the organisation and enthuse the workers.
Esta historia es de la edición April 21, 2024 de THE WEEK India.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición April 21, 2024 de THE WEEK India.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Pressure Points
Author and MP Shashi Tharoor and motivational speaker Gaur Gopal Das on how to find healing and meaning in today's world
War Over Wounded Earth
For the BJP andthe Congress, the ravaged farmlands of Vidarbha represent a cxitieal battleground in their larger struggle to win Maharashtra
Say no to continual elections
Following the recommendations of a high-level committee led by former president Ram Nath Kovind to streamline the widely scattered schedule of national, state and local elections, the Union cabinet has reportedly approved two constitutional amendment bills for likely introduction in Parliament. Predictably, the return of the ‘one nation, one election’ issue to news has set off a flurry of objections by several opposition leaders.
Fabulously, fashionably funny
The third season of the Karan Johar-produced Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives dropped on Netflix, but articles criticising the show appear in some news site or the other almost daily. If it is so bad, why keep writing about it? And if it is so bad, why would the superpowers at Netflix, who are harder to meet than the prime minister, commission the show season after season?
All in the family
The Chitaras have been passing down the secret art of Mata Ni Pachedi through generations for more than 400 years now
Raise a toast to Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan is a New Year baby. At 45, she is aglow in the most beautiful way, having won the hearts and admiration of countless fans across the world, who watched the supremely talented actor take a public tumble on stage at a high-profile promotional event recently, sharing the platform with no less a dancer than the eternally graceful Madhuri Dixit.
Death no bar
Being alive is not a legal requirement to be elected president of the United States
The Lotus POTUS
You should visit us one of these days— there is so much excitement in our USA! No, I don’t mean the famous USA—the Ulhasnagar Sindhi Association of Mumbai.
RAY OF HOPE
Actor and cancer survivor Lisa Ray talks to oncologist Dr Jame Abraham about inner strength and her surrogacy journey
LEVERAGE AI TO ENHANCE WORK
AT THE WEEK Health Summit, Siddharth Bagga, head (retail, CPG and health care), Google Cloud, elaborated on the significant work that Google has been doing in health care through artificial intelligence (AI).