Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Aug 21: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is stepping up his campaign against alleged police excesses against protesting students, taking the issue from Parliament to a police station on Friday as he seeks to revive a party facing leadership challenges and a string of electoral setbacks.
While Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have denied allegations of police brutality and pointed to a five-member panel constituted by the Supreme Court to probe the matter, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha has continued to make the issue a central part of his political outreach.
Rahul has increasingly projected himself as the face of the Congress’ political strategy, using such interventions to position the party as a defender of democratic rights. At the same time, efforts to forge alliances are aimed at challenging the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
For the Congress, the combination of political narratives and alliances remains crucial as it seeks to overcome repeated electoral defeats and establish common ground with both voters and potential allies.
In last year’s Bihar Assembly election, Rahul made the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls a major campaign issue, despite a lukewarm response from some Mahagathbandhan allies.
The Opposition constituents had entered the election with confidence after their close contest in the previous state poll. However, the 2025 outcome proved disastrous for the alliance, with the NDA returning to power with a wider margin.
With Uttar Pradesh and other states preparing for elections, Rahul is now aggressively highlighting the students’ issue as a political weapon, with an apparent intent to take the campaign from Jantar Mantar to Lucknow.
The strategy reflects his search for issues that can resonate emotionally, particularly among younger voters, while being presented as examples of alleged government insensitivity.
It is also an attempt to connect with grassroots sentiment and position the Congress as a defender of democratic rights.
From parliamentary contests to state elections, the Congress has struggled to translate its historical legacy into electoral gains. Successive defeats have strengthened the perception of the party’s decline, making the upcoming polls important not only for winning seats but also for overcoming the psychological impact of repeated losses.
Recognising its weakened position, the Congress has increasingly relied on alliances as a political survival strategy. The party has also established formal coordination committees to manage coalition dynamics more systematically.
The move follows the Bihar experience, where the Congress was unable to persuade Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav to accept a larger seat share, a setback that exposed difficulties in alliance negotiations.
Uttar Pradesh, with its vast electorate and major influence on national politics, remains particularly important. For the Congress, however, the state has become a difficult electoral battleground. Once a dominant political force, the party has been reduced to a marginal player amid the rise of regional parties and the BJP’s organisational strength.
By raising issues such as alleged police action against protesting students and alleged misappropriation of Ram Janmabhoomi Trust funds, the Congress is seeking to carve out a distinct political space.
The 2024 Lok Sabha election results in Uttar Pradesh provided a boost to the party, which contested in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP). However, the much-publicised Rahul Gandhi-Akhilesh Yadav “UP ke ladke” combination had failed to deliver the expected results in earlier Assembly elections.
The prospective coalition is now banking partly on an anti-incumbency factor after two consecutive BJP victories in a state that had not previously witnessed such a run. Alongside issues raised by the Opposition, caste and religious considerations are also expected to influence the electoral contest.
Against this backdrop, Rahul Gandhi is seeking to rework the Congress strategy by combining a sharper political narrative with more structured coalition-building efforts ahead of the coming elections.