New Delhi: The Congress party has once again failed to secure a single seat in the Delhi Assembly elections for the third consecutive time. Having obtained a mere marginal vote share of 6% plus, the dismal performance has generated serious questions as to their political destiny in the capital city.
Congress’s Continued Decline
Despite an aggressive campaign led by senior leader Rahul Gandhi, the party failed to make any significant impact on voters. Gandhi’s criticisms of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal—involving the controversial “Sheesh Mahal” residence and an alleged liquor scam—did not yield electoral benefits.
Though Congress increased its vote share by just a marginal 4% in the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, it continued to incur deposits in 67 out of 70 constituencies. Only the three candidates who could hold on to their deposits were Devender Yadav (Badli), Abhishek Dutt (Kasturba Nagar), and Rohit Chaudhary (Nangloi Jat). Interestingly, both Yadav and Dutt had been successful in preserving the deposits in the previous election too.
Failure to Win Back Core Voters
The party’s hopes of regaining its traditional vote base—comprising Muslims, Dalits, and Other Backward Classes (OBCs)—were dashed. However, unwelcome popularity trends and controversies within the ranks of AAP, followed by their fall from grace, could not bring these voters to Congress’s side.
The party’s declining influence was further highlighted by the impact of its alliance with AAP during the recent Lok Sabha elections. The Congress state unit had initially resisted this partnership, fearing that it would alienate its core voters. Rumors of a possible second coalition between the two parties and the assemblies elections to come may have set back the chances of the Congress in the upcoming Assembly polls.
Organizational Weaknesses and Leadership Crisis
Internal divisions of congress and leadership shifts have further contributed to its fall. The party, meanwhile, has failed to establish a solid organizational strength in Delhi due to frequent shifts in Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief position.
A major setback for the party came when former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. His exit revealed inherent factionalism amongst the party, more specifically, around the decision to team up with AAP. Lovely later joined the BJP party, and won election from Gandhi Nagar constituency, further weakening the future of Congress in the city.
Congress’s Future Strategy
Despite a weak electoral register, Congress is attempting to paint the outcome as an opportunity to reform, reconfiguring, and renew its base (i.e. Party leaders assert that their hard line against AAP has been a good way to clearly convey to the electorate that Congress is no longer “open for business” with the AAP.
However, it is with the intention to leverage such anti-AAP sentiment to build its power base in Punjab (where AAP exerts current predominance) and to prepare for the 2027 municipal polls in Delhi, that Congress now wishes to take this path. Nevertheless, given persistent voter apathy and the absence of an effective leadership mechanism in Delhi, the party is set for a challenge in restoring its political fortunes.
Conclusion
The recent democratic outcome of the Delhi Assembly election has once more put Congress’s deep-set problems in the city under the spotlight. The party’s failure to connect with voters, internal leadership struggles, and past alliances with AAP have left it struggling to regain relevance. It shall not be clear to what extent Congress has a political future in Delhi, unless Congress makes serious organizational reform and re-gains the support of its electorate.
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