Kharge, Rahul ask U’khand leaders to intensify poll campaign
By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
Garhwal Post Bureau
New Delhi, 2 Nov: With the 2027 Uttarakhand Assembly elections approaching, the Congress high command has stepped up its preparations and begun focusing on strengthening the party organisation and evolving a coordinated electoral strategy in the state. A day after the INDIA bloc’s mega rally and march at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, yesterday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi held a detailed meeting with senior Uttarakhand Congress leaders to review the political situation in the state and discuss preparations for the forthcoming Assembly elections.
The meeting was held at Kharge’s residence at 10 Rajaji Marg here, today, and was attended amongst others by Rahul Gandhi, Kharge, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and the party’s Uttarakhand in-charge Kumari Selja. Among the state leaders present were Pradesh Congress Committee president Ganesh Godiyal, Leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly Yashpal Arya, chairman of the Election Campaign Committee and Chakrata MLA Pritam Singh, and chairman of the Election Management Committee Harak Singh Rawat. Congress co-in-charges Surendra Sharma and Manoj Yadav also participated in the deliberations.
According to party sources, the discussions primarily focused on the political and social situation in Uttarakhand, the issues concerning the common people and the Congress party’s preparations for the 2027 Assembly elections. The senior leadership reportedly particularly emphasised upon the need to strengthen the organisation at every level, particularly down to the booth level, ensure better coordination among senior leaders and workers, greater unity within the party and making efforts to increase the party’s visibility and political activities across all regions of the state. Gandhi and Kharge reportedly also asked senior party leaders in Uttarakhand to resolve their inner differences and put up sincere efforts to ensure a united fight in the upcoming assembly polls.
In addition, according to the sources, the party high command also advised the state leadership to adopt a more aggressive and proactive approach in raising issues concerning public interest. The leaders were reportedly asked to ensure that both major and relatively smaller issues affecting the people are taken up forcefully and consistently so that the party’s campaign remains connected with the concerns and expectations of the electorate. The emphasis was also on ensuring greater participation of grassroots workers and maintaining unity among different sections of the state leadership while preparing for the electoral battle.
The meeting assumes political significance in the backdrop of yesterday’s rally organised at Ramlila Maidan under the banner of ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’. The rally, led by Kharge and Rahul Gandhi along with other senior INDIA bloc leaders, had targeted the Central Government and the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and allegations of vote theft. The Opposition leaders raised concerns over the protection of democratic institutions and the voting rights of citizens, seeking to make these issues an important part of the political discourse in states going to the polls in 2027, including Uttarakhand.
The Congress leadership appears keen to carry the political momentum generated by the Delhi rally into the forthcoming Assembly elections, despite the fact that yesterday’s rally in Delhi had received a rather lukewarm response from the people. The party is also looking to present a united front in Uttarakhand, with collective leadership, improved coordination and sustained public outreach forming the principal elements of its strategy. The challenge before the state leadership will be to translate these organisational instructions into an effective campaign on the ground and address the various political, social and regional concerns that are likely to influence the electoral outcome.
Reacting to the meeting, Uttarakhand Congress president Ganesh Godiyal said that the party is committed to fulfilling the expectations of the people of the state. He described the rally in Delhi as a ‘massive’ one and an indication of the changing mood of voters and expressed confidence that political change in Uttarakhand is now inevitable. Party leaders, including Kumari Selja and Congress spokesperson Garima Dasauni, also emphasised that the party would prepare for the Assembly elections by placing public concerns at the centre of its political campaign and drawing strength from the hard work of party workers and organisational unity.
Following the meeting, senior party leaders from Uttarakhand that the meeting had witnessed detailed discussions on various social and political issues, besides the strategy for the forthcoming Assembly elections and the party’s organisational preparations in the state.
