New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi focused on social justice while naming a Dalit leader Rajesh Kumar as the new Bihar unit chief and is keen to target the 20 percent community vote share in the poll-bound state.
The Dalits in Bihar have been supporting the ruling JD-U for long but the grand old party hopes to corner a fair share of the community votes in the next assembly elections to be held later this year as Rahul had been flagging his social justice plank as well as the need to save the Constitution to woo the marginalised groups over the past months.
Besides the social justice plank, the appointment of Rajesh Kumar days after the appointment of AICC in-charge Krishna Allavaru and the launch of a foot march has sent a message to ally RJD that the Congress is keen to expand its presence across the state.
Further the appointment of Rajesh Kumar who replaced Akhilesh Prasad Singh is also a message to the leaders who have been hand in glove with the RJD over the past years, said party insiders, adding that Allavaru and Singh had differences over style of functioning.
“The appointment of Rajesh Kumar will certainly convey Rahul Gandhi’s message of social justice in the state. The Dalits have been backing the JD-U over the past years but are now attracted towards the Congress which is talking about the need to protect their rights. The JD-U is weakened. The community will now feel reassured that the grand old party practices what it preaches,” Bihar Congress working president Dr Ashok Kumar told ETV Bharat.
According to the senior leader, the Congress was going into the coming elections with a new flavour and would be more aggressive in its approach.
“We recently had a new in-charge and now a new state unit chief. A yatra to flag the concerns of the youth on joblessness and migration to other states is already on. The good part is that youth in small batches are joining the yatra. This is a good indication for us. But the yatra will only create a buzz around the party. We must attend to our organisation and fill in the vacant posts in the blocks at the earliest. A strong organisation will play a major role in the elections,” he said.
The senior leader said though the Congress was trying to expand its presence across the state, it would also keep the alliance with the RJD intact.
“Whatever we do, the alliance will be there. If we are stronger, the alliance becomes stronger. The only difference would be that the Congress would be able to negotiate better during seat-sharing consultations. After that all of us will have to ensure the victory of the alliance candidates to defeat the JD(U)-BJP,” said Dr Kumar.
According to former state unit chief Kaukab Qadri, the Congress move will also help the party attract the minority segments as well as the upper caste votes.
“We should be targeting around 23 percent vote share. This will include the Dalits, minority groups and sections of the upper caste. The messaging through the foot march is good. But we need to speed up work on the organisation as we have limited time at hand. How we mobilise our workers at the booth-level and connect with the voters during the coming months will really make a difference. The state government will have to answer the questions related to job creation being flagged by the Congress,” Qadri told ETV Bharat.
