It is around noon, and the narrow lane in Mahipalpur in South Delhi, with shops lining it on either side, is just stirring into activity. Above the shops are houses, many of their occupants being long-time residents of the area and owners of the commercial establishments below. The sound of dhols (drums) temporarily disrupts the unfolding of the daily routine. A group of around 100 Congress workers troops into the alley, holding party flags.
State Congress president Devender Yadav and some senior party leaders, including former MLAs, are walking in front. Many of them are wearing T-shirts carrying the message “Dilli Nyay Yatra. Dilli Ab Aur Nahi Sahegi” (Delhi Nyay Yatra. Delhi will not tolerate anymore). Flower petals are showered on the yatris at regular intervals by party workers who have already taken their positions on the balconies above. Rising up is a huge balloon in the shape of a rattle with former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s face on it, a reference to the allegedly false promises of the AAP.
The Congress in Delhi has, in the run up to the Assembly election scheduled for February next year, taken the yatraroute to reach out to the people. Taking a leaf out of former party chief Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Delhi unit of the party embarked on the Dilli Nyay Yatra on November 8. With the month-long walkathon, the Congress aims to connect with the people in all 70 Assembly constituencies in the capital.
Hopes of a revival
The festive mood of the yatra, with music playing, and the upbeat demeanour of the Congress leaders and workers as they interact with the people, are in stark contrast to the predicament the party finds itself in at present. If the Congress is hoping for a revival in the upcoming election, it will be an uphill task.
Once the dominant political party in Delhi, the Congress is now relegated to the sidelines of the capital’s politics. With Sheila Dikshit at the helm, the party had been in power for three consecutive terms till 2013, when it lost power to the AAP. It had managed to win only eight seats in that election. Since 2015, the party has not won a single seat in the Assembly.
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The Congress’ vote share in the 2013 Assembly election was 24.7 per cent. It fell to 9.7 per cent in the 2015 election and to a mere 4.3 per cent in the 2020 election. A major reason for the Congress getting sidelined in Delhi is the shift of its voter base, which mainly comprised the residents of the capital’s unauthorised colonies and slums, the minorities and the Dalits, to the AAP.
The AAP’s vote share in the 2013 elections was 29.7 per cent. It zoomed to 54.5 per cent in the 2015 election, and fell just marginally to 53.8 per cent in 2020.
Out in the cold in Delhi’s politics for over a decade now, the Congress is now hoping to benefit from what it believes is a growing dissatisfaction with the ruling AAP and what it claims is the diminishing of the credibility of AAP’s leaders in the wake of corruption allegations against them, especially the excise policy case. The party hopes that in the Assembly election, it can win back the supporters it lost to the AAP.
The party is also targeting the BJP through the yatra, holding it equally responsible for the alleged mismanagement of Delhi since the Lieutenant Governor, who is a representative of the BJP-ruled Centre in the capital, has immense powers.
“Delhi is in a mess right now. The AAP and the BJP are equally responsible for the present situation. It is but natural for the people of Delhi to remember the good old days when the Congress government was in place,” says Alka Lamba, Mahila Congress President and prominent Delhi Congress leader.
Delhi chat
To assess the Congress party’s strategy and electoral prospects in Delhi, Soni Mishra interviewed state unit president Devender Yadav. Read the interview here.
According to Arun Bharadwaj, one of the party workers accompanying the State Congress president on the yatra, the exercise involves interacting with the people and learning about the issues on the ground. “The people are talking about issues such as electricity and water bills, the poor condition of roads and drainage, services such as pensions and rations not reaching them,” says Bharadwaj.
In the Mahipalpur lane, after the Congress procession has moved past his tailoring shop, Mohd Kamruddin notes that while his family has benefited from the Kejriwal government’s scheme providing free electricity up to 200 units, there are many other issues the present dispensation has not satisfactorily addressed. “Lag raha hai ki badlav hone ja raha hai [It appears that a change will take place],” says Kamruddin.
Just a few paces ahead, Parvesh Pal Singh sits on an easy chair on the tiny porch outside his home. The elderly Singh has always lived in the area and cynically notes that successive governments have failed to improve the living conditions in the city. He says the AAP has turned out to be just like the others. “They claimed to be honest, but they are no less corrupt than the others. Kejriwal spent so much money on his Sheesh Mahal [glass palace],” he says, referring to the controversy surrounding the vast amounts of money allegedly spent on renovating the Chief Minister’s house when Kejriwal lived there.
The Congress’ yatrain Delhi is an optimistic endeavour by the party aimed at reclaiming its lost ground in the capital whose politics it once dominated.
