Stooping to conquer: Congress plays small in the big game of 2029

The Congress strategy is in full view in the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand and the Assembly by-polls in UP

- AJAY JHA

Lifted by its relatively improved performance in the June 2024 Parliamentary polls and with an eye on the 2029 general elections, the Congress party has adopted a bizarre strategy of shrinking to grow.

The Congress plan, though paradoxical, is straightforward—weaken the archrival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), bring it down from its high pedestal and shatter the myth that the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is invincible, before devising a strategy for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress strategy is in full view in the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand and in the Assembly by-elections in Uttar Pradesh. The party is contesting fewer seats compared to the past. Maharashtra presents the most striking example of this strategic shift. Compared to 2019, when it contested 145 seats in the 288-member Assembly, the party is contesting 60 fewer seats this time. In Jharkhand, too, Congress is contesting only 30 seats compared to 31 in 2019. And in Uttar Pradesh, set to witness by-elections in nine Assembly segments, it remains in sulking mode. The party has spurned the offer of contesting two seats given by alliance partner Samajwadi Party and has instead announced it will work for the victory of its allies.