Karnataka done, the real test for Rahul Gandhi-Mallikarjun Kharge jodi is to deliver 2024 for Congress

A picture of Rahul Gandhi addressing a gathering in pouring rain during the yatra had gone viral and set the tone for the Congress party’s high-pitched campaigning against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He followed it up with extensive electioneering in the state in the past few weeks.

Surprisingly, Rahul Gandhi had skipped campaigning in Himachal Pradesh in November-December last year and instead his sister steered the party to victory in the hill state. Karnataka is also the only state where all the three Gandhis – Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – campaigned in recent years. Due to her health conditions, Sonia Gandhi had avoided campaigning for many years now.

The central theme of the yatra was to unite India with love and on Saturday as the Congress raced to a thumping victory Rahul Gandhi reiterated this narrative. “Karnataka mei nafrat ki bazaar bandh hui hai aur mohabbat ki dukaan khuli hai (In Karnataka, the market of hate has been shut, and the shops of love have opened,” he told reporters in Delhi.

Next Tasks: Rebuilding Party, Opposition Unity

Demands are now coming from various quarters in the Congress that he should resume his yatra from East to West given that the morale of the workers is very high after the Karnataka win and the impact is visible on the ground. The yatra also enabled Rahul Gandhi to transform his perceived image of being a non-serious politician who would go on frequent sabbaticals abroad to a mature leader willing to sweat out in the heat and dust of politics.

A weak organisational structure, a lacklustre and disconnected campaign, and its failure to communicate with the masses were till now blamed for the Congress party’s dismal show in the states and at the national level. Though Kharge is the official figurehead of the Congress, the onus of rebuilding and strengthening the party organisation in the states lies with the Gandhi siblings.

Another big task for Rahul Gandhi post-Karnataka victory is to take the lead in uniting the opposition parties. With its pan-India presence, the Congress must be the fulcrum of the opposition alliance. To take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP’s formidable election machinery, the Congress must come down from the high pedestal and shed its big brother attitude to bring all the warring opposition parties together. It has been well-established by now that a divided opposition helps the BJP electorally in states and at the national level.

Kharge: Not A Rubber Stamp President

For veteran Kharge, it has been smooth sailing as the Congress president so far. He has to some extent negated the perception that he would be a rubber stamp of the Gandhis. Though the involvement of Rahul Gandhi in decision-making through his 'Man Friday’ KC Venugopal continues, Kharge has had his way in the organisational matters on many occasions.

The Congress has tasted success in two states – Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka  – under his leadership and any move to send him to Karnataka would have amounted to destabilising the party structure once again. The grand old party took nearly five years to elect its full-time head after Rahul Gandhi quit the post in May 2019 following the drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections. Kharge took over after much drama that saw the Gandhi family loyalist and Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot declining to contest the party chief’s post at the last moment.

In Parliament, he has managed to bring the opposition parties on the same platform on various issues, including the demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the allegations against the Adani Group. With his vast experience in politics, Kharge could emerge as a consensus prime ministerial candidate of the Congress and even of the united opposition if Rahul Gandhi turns down the offer and the grand old party insists on leading the coalition.

That said, the Rahul Gandhi-Kharge combine has been able to deliver for the Congress so far in the states but the real challenge for the duo is to put the party back on the winning track at the national level in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Of course, the semi-finals in November-December this year when five states – Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram go to polls – are extremely crucial for the Congress in reaching that goal.

Aurangzeb Naqshbandi is a senior journalist who has been covering the Congress for 15 years, and is currently associated with Pixstory. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.