Congress to start 2024 election battle from Nagpur - Here's why the city is important

The Nagpur rally would also project Rahul Gandhi’s upcoming Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0.

On its 139th foundation day, Congress kickstarted its poll campaign ahead of next year's Lok Sabha elections with its mega rally "Hain Tayyar Hum" in Maharashtra's Nagpur city.

The meeting saw the participation of a legion of Congress leaders and activists, including All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, other Congress Working Committee (CWC) members, AICC and Maharashtra party unit office-bearers and the party’s chief ministers.

The venue of the rally was the Dighori Naka area. The Congress dubbed the area “Bharat Jodo Ground” referring to Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. Lying at the heart of the Vidarbha region, Nagpur shares a long association with the party. This is why Congress wanted to sound the 2024 poll bugle from Nagpur.

Looking back

In 1920, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the party gave a clarion call for the launch of the non-cooperation movement against the British in the Congress Nagpur Session. In this conclave, the Congress declared significant organisational reforms. It decided to strengthen the AICC with 350 members and constituted a 15-member Congress Working Committee (CWC) as its highest decision-making body.

#WATCH | Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge unfurls the party flag at AICC HQ in Delhi on the party's 139th Foundation Day celebration event. pic.twitter.com/Wwa4eekbhv

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Indira Gandhi was elected as the AICC president in 1959 in a Nagpur Session. Even during the “Indira Hatao, Desh Bachao” agitation led by Jaiprakash Narayan during the Emergency, the Congress retained its turf in Nagpur.

“After Emergency and defeat in the Lok Sabha polls of 1977, Indira Gandhi chose the Kasturchand Park in Nagpur to address the first public meeting - which saw the revival of Congress and bouncing back to power in 1980,” said Maharashtra Congress chief spokesperson and general secretary Atul Londhe.

RSS headquarter

Founded by Nagpur-based doctor, Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has its headquarters in the city.  The RSS is the ideological fountainhead of the BJP and several other affiliates. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had once described the RSS as “the powerhouse of the BJP”.

Also read: No alternative to PM Modi in 2024: Ajit Pawar

Ahead of the 2024 polls, the Congress said it has been engaged in an ideological battle with the BJP-RSS to claim the “idea of India” as envisioned by the Constitution. Congress MLA Nitin Raut said the party has chosen Nagpur for the rally due to its ideology and thinking. “On one hand, there is the RSS ideology, and on the other hand is the ideology of Constitution’s architect Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar which is aligned with the ideology of the Congress,” he said as quoted by PTI.

Connected to Ambedkar

BR Ambedkar, the father of the Constitution, embarked on Buddhism along with lakhs of his followers on Dusshera on October 14, 1956. The historical site also has a memorial called Deekshabhoomi. According to various reports, Congress chose Nagpur, citing that “the city resonates with the ideologies of both the RSS and the key architect of the Constitution”. Maintaining its connection to Ambedkar’s legacy, the Congress has always accused the BJP of wanting to change the Constitution.

State Congress President Nana Patole said, “We want to send the message that we are ready for the big fight against the BJP, its corruption and anti-Constitution politics.”

He said when there is a crisis in the country, it is “from the land of Nagpur that the Congress calls Elgar”. “Today when the country’s democratic system, Constitution and all the four pillars of democracy are under threat, it is the responsibility of the Congress to keep this system intact,” Patole said.

The Nagpur rally would also project Rahul Gandhi’s upcoming Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0 called ‘Bharat Nyay Yatra’ – from Manipur to Mumbai – which he will l January 14.