Congress, the party which ruled the country for the longest period after independence, is contesting the elections on the least number of seats in its electoral history in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Grand Old Party is contesting elections on 328 seats and this is clear proof that the strength and the base of the country’s oldest political party is continuously decreasing. It is not just about winning the seats anymore! It seems that the party is not even confident of itself to contest several seats as over the years the party has been contesting polls on fewer seats.
If we look at the record of the last 35 years, except for three Lok Sabha elections, Congress is continuously contesting elections on fewer seats. This is the first time that the party is contesting elections on less than 400 seats.
According to party insiders, the logic behind Congress contesting elections on fewer seats is that it is expecting better results for itself while leaving the remaining seats for its INDIA bloc allies.
As per the party’s calculations, out of the total 543 seats of the Lok Sabha, there are about 200 such seats on which the Bharatiya Janata Party has a direct electoral fight with the regional parties and thus placing its bets on these regional parties seems to be the best option for Congress.
The party is aware that its electoral performance has been worsening since 2014 and due to this, even its allies have decided to give the party less number of seats to contest considering its poor performance in the 2023 Assembly polls and also its declining voter base pan India.
For example, in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress had contested elections on 67 Lok Sabha seats under the UPA alliance and lost deposits in about 63 constituencies. Sonia Gandhi was the only Congress candidate who managed to win in the 2019 LS polls. In 2024 the party is contesting only 17 seats which is 50 seats less than in 2019. Similarly, in West Bengal, the Congress had fielded candidates on 41 Lok Sabha seats last time, but this time it has fielded only 12 candidates.
Moreover, the condition of Congress organization is also not very promising as many of its top leaders have quit the party one by one in the last five years in several states only to join the rival BJP.
Such has been the condition of the oldest party that it had to struggle to find candidates on several LS seats thus the only option before the party was to contest on fewer seats and leave the rest for its INIDA bloc allies.
However, it may be noted that in Karnataka and Odisha, where the party aims to strengthen its presence, it is contesting more seats than in the previous elections. It has given up seats in states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra, opting for strategic alliances to enhance its electoral prospects. As part of this strategy in Maharashtra, Congress, which last contested the elections on 25 seats, is now contesting on 17 seats.
Apart from this, Congress is also contesting four seats less in Delhi as compared to the last election, two less in Gujarat and three less in Rajasthan as compared to 2019 elections.
The biggest reason behind the continuously declining support base of the party is that its top leaders have failed to make a proper connection with the public. Most of the top leaders go among the public just before the elections which the voters do not like. The voters of today have become smart and are aware of what several parties are doing for them. As against the Congress leaders, the BJP leaders have been ensuring that they keep in touch with the people even after the polls are over.
Many BJP leaders even after losing polls continue to visit their areas just to make themselves visible on the field which helps them five years later during the LS polls. The Congress leaders are most often seen avoiding stepping on the constituencies until the polls are announced. The distance between leaders and the public irritates the voters and so they choose to maintain a distance from such parties during polls.
Explained: Congress contesting on just 328 LS seats due to its dwindling voter base
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08.05.2024
Congress, the party which ruled the country for the longest period after independence, is contesting the elections on the least number of seats in its electoral history in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Grand Old Party is contesting elections on 328 seats and this is clear proof that the strength and the base of the country’s oldest political party is continuously decreasing. It is not just about winning the seats anymore! It seems that the party is not even confident of itself to contest several seats as over the years the party has been contesting polls on fewer seats.
If we look at the record of the last 35 years, except for three Lok Sabha elections, Congress is continuously contesting elections on fewer seats. This is the first time that the party is contesting elections on less than 400 seats.
According to party insiders, the logic behind Congress contesting elections on fewer seats is that it is expecting better results for itself while leaving the remaining seats for its INDIA bloc........
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