Congress poll strategy faces alliance challenges

Ahead of key elections, internal choices and alliances are drawing renewed scrutiny.

The Congress appears to have once again taken the wrong path by focusing on the issue of vote theft. Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, will not be able to challenge the NDA by relying on the INDIA bloc’s weak leaders, as this particular political issue has never yielded success. In fact, the Congress has repeatedly found itself exposed on this front. As elections approach, the party often drifts away from core issues to pick up topics that ultimately benefit the BJP. Before the 2024 general elections, the Congress had levelled serious allegations of vote theft against the BJP, blaming EVMs. However, the EVM issue vanished after the results were declared, as the narrative regarding the “Constitution being in danger” and the “threat to reservation” gained traction in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.