Congress king in Karnataka: Will reluctant opposition parties now place it on the throne of the anti-BJP national front?

Not just the Congress, but many in the opposition heaved a sigh of relief as the Karnataka election results gave a resounding victory to the grand old party. Even the Trinamool Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated the party and said the upcoming state elections would bring more good news.

The first major national impact of the Karnataka election is going to be two-fold. This brings Rahul Gandhi back into the reckoning and narrative as a strong contender against Narendra Modi. The Bharat Jodo Yatra has been given the green signal by the party and the election figures. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “Wherever the yatra went, the party won 90% of the seats.”

go the extra mile

According to statistics, the impact of the yatra was felt in at least 21 assembly seats. The party and Rahul Gandhi are now going to start Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0 and it is going to end around the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress is hopeful that like Karnataka, now the journey going from east to west will yield good results.

What this means for Rahul Gandhi is that the travel frustration will now go away. But more than that, the party would use his disqualification as an MP and the vacating of his official residence as a factor in supporting Gandhi. It also means that opposition parties like TMC and AAP who were critical of Rahul Gandhi’s political ability may now have to bow down.

Congress as an opposition base?

Apart from Rahul Gandhi, the opposition parties may now have to look at the Congress even more softly.

With one defeat after another, it was becoming difficult for the Congress to claim a place in front of the opposition bloc. While the Congress insisted that no opposition grouping could be formed without its epicenter, strong regional parties like the TMC, AAP and the BRS were refusing to buy into it. In private, many of their leaders described the Congress as an arrogant and lazy party that could not do anything right and would be a burden. “First prove yourself worthy of leadership” was the message. Rahul Gandhi was singled out for barbs.

While it may not be entirely accurate to say that the Congress has passed that test by winning Karnataka, it has at least shown that “yes, it can”. ,

Apart from the BJP, the Congress remains the only party with an all-India footprint. So it was always difficult to ignore it.

With the victory in the south, the Congress has now earned respect among the opposition parties. And is back in the running.