UP Congress Parivartan Yatra to ‘Energise Party, Connect With People’ Ahead of 2024

Lucknow: Days after Congress was defeated in the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assembly polls, the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) held its first meeting here on Tuesday amid the conflicting views on taking forward the opposition INDIA bloc in the state before the 2024 Lok Sabha election. 

UPCC’s new president Ajay Rai appealed to party workers to not get disheartened by the Assembly election results and instead fight the BJP with full strength. 

“We need to learn from recent defeats and take the Lok Sabha election as a challenge and work day and night on a war footing. We need to hit the road with full force and connect with people in rural and urban areas,” Rai told NewsClick on the meeting’s sidelines.

“If we sit at home disheartened, the Bhartiya Janata Party will destroy democracy and the Constitution. And if it succeeds in its objective, our future generations will never forgive us,” he added. 

Leaders attending the meeting stressed the need for the party to be visible on the ground irrespective of future alliances.

Some party office-bearers suggested to Rai for a seat-sharing arrangement with INDIA allies in 2024 while others want it to go solo as it is not a state election. 

The party decided to organise a Parivartan Yatra (Processions of change) across the state from the third week of December with the first starting from the Shakambari Mata Temple, Saharanpur, and concluding at Naimisharanya Dham, Sitapur.

Sharing the yatra’s road map, Rai said, “The on-foot yatra will pass through every village and city in all the districts making UP’speople aware of the BJP’s failed policies and ideology.” Congress supporters and district party members will participate in the yatra.

Slogans like “Panv-Panv, Gaon-Gaon” for villages and “Dagar-Dagar, Nagar-Nagar” for cities were coined by the leaders.

“Only five months are left in the Lok Sabha election, and we must prepare ourselves on the ground. Therefore, we need to come together with full strength and provide dynamism to the party by connecting as many people as possible with the Congress,” he told the participants.

When asked about the issues that will be raised during the yatra, Rai said, “Unemployment, the deteriorating law and order and pending dues of sugarcane farmers. We are preparing a list and will distribute

pamphlets on how the BJP government at the Centre and the state misleads people, especially farmers and labourers.”

Regarding the tussle between the alliance and the Samajwadi Party (Sp) over seat-sharing, Rai told NewsClick, “There is no

misunderstanding and tussle with the Samajwadi Party. The INDIA bloc will move ahead with full strength across the country.” 

Rai had earlier targeted the SP for the INDIA bloc’s failure in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election and said that the Congress is “capable enough to contest all 80 [Lok Sabha] seats [in the state] on its own.”

Three months since Rai’s appointment as president, he has assembled a team of 130 office-bearers, marking a significant transformation within the party. His emphasis on youth empowerment is evident with 67% of the new team below the age of 50.