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.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI
