While its leadership officially insists that it would play a major role in forming the Delhi government, the upcoming Assembly polls will actually be a battle of sheer survival for the Congress, party insiders feel.
According to leaders privy to the party’s campaign strategy, the grand old party’s ambition this time is to regain support of the Capital’s minorities, especially that of the Muslim community residing in and around the walled city to the north.
The party leaders find it crucial even to hold on to the eight seats in the last Assembly.
This was precisely what the party would expect erstwhile Janata Dal (United) MLA Shoaib Iqbal, whose ‘unconditional’ entry to the Delhi Congress was ratified by national vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, to deliver on.
With the exception of the previous Assembly polls, the Muslim community has traditionally been considered a Congress vote-bank.
However, the party witnessed an erosion of its traditional vote-bank during the Lok Sabha polls in favour of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Of the eight legislators, who won on the Congress symbol during the 2013 Assembly polls, four are Muslims.
“There is a possibility of extreme polarisation on religious lines against the BJP in Muslim-dominated constituencies, especially after the recent Trilokpuri riots and also because the AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal has lost his appeal among them,” said a senior party leader. “Unfortunately, our estimated vote share across the city is at an all-time low with a majority of upper middle-class voters, who had propelled the AAP to victory last year, expected to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) this time,” the leader added.
Mr. Iqbal is among the six leaders from the Muslim community in the Congress in addition to heavyweights such as Haroon Yusuf, Asif Mohammad Iqbal and Mateen Ahmed, who are believed to garner votes on the basis of individual charisma as well as local issues. In the previous Assembly polls, Mr. Iqbal had contested and won the Matia Mahal constituency at the end of a tight contest with the Congress’ Mirza Javed Ali, who came in a close second due to a deficit of around 3,000 votes.
On his part, Mr. Iqbal attributed his shift to the Congress in the interests of a ‘nation-wide secular front against the communal BJP’.
“The national leadership of the JD (U) is a firm believer in secular politics and did not oppose my request to be allowed to join the Congress,” Mr. Iqbal told The Hindu .
“If I fought against the Congress, I would have indirectly ended up benefiting the BJP and its communal agenda. Now I will fight its divisive politics alongside the only secular party against it,” Mr. Iqbal added.
