Gujarat Lok Sabha election 2024: Congress – Past performance, key issues, challenges and more

Congress

The Indian National Congress lives in hope of winning seats in Gujarat, which is a Bharatiya Janata Party stronghold. In order to fulfill its dreams, the Congress has formed an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party wherein the Congress will be fielding candidates in 24 of the 26 seats. The AAP will field its candidates in two seats- Bharuch and Bhavnagar.

Gujarat votes during the third phase of the elections on May 7.

The Congress AAP alliance is hoping to break the BJP’s run in the state basis anti-incumbency sentiments among voters.

During the 2022 Assembly Elections the Congress and the AAP had fought against each other, which analysts feel led to the BJP winning a record number of seats.

The INDIA alliance hopes that by joining forces they will be able to reach out to the voters who are seeking options apart from the BJP.

The BJP is confident that the INDIA alliance will not hinder their winning streak as it seeks to win each seat by record margins.

The Congress AAP alliance is focusing on the tribal votes as the tribal dominated pockets of the state have traditionally favoured the Congress. But the BJP, thanks to it’s political  victories and dominance in the state over the past decade, is confident of thwarting the opposition alliance’s poll efforts.

Another aspect that plagues the Congress is it’s state leaders defecting to the BJP ahead of the polls. While former Congress spokesperson Rohan Gupta is the latest to switch sides, he was preceded by Gourav Vallabh, another Congress spokesperson who had also joined the BJP.

Will the Congress - AAP Alliance be strong enough to stop the BJP winning Gujarat for the third time? Probably not. Will the alliance be able to stop a clean sweep like 2019 and 2014, and more recently the 2022 Assembly Elections?  Only time and the voters will tell.