The Congress will soon get its top guns out on the streets in the run-up to the April 23 municipal elections. The list is likely to include former Union Ministers and senior leaders from other States.
Among the likely star campaigners will be ministers from the erstwhile-UPA government Anand Sharma, P. Chidambaram, Shashi Tharoor, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jairam Ramesh, Sachin Pilot and Salman Khurshid. They are expected to participate in a series of campaign events, including meeting Delhiites during morning walks and public meetings.
Leaders from other States
Congress leaders from other States, including Milind Deora, Harish Rawat, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Capt. Amarinder Singh, Navjyot Singh Sidhu and Raj Babbar would also campaign for the party in the Capital.
“We have made a list of senior leaders who can participate in the campaign. We have also set up an election control room from where candidates can coordinate the campaigns and request senior leaders to join,” said Chattar Singh, vice-president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee.
He added that Congress leaders from Delhi, including former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and her Cabinet, may also be seen out on the campaign trail. However, there were no plans for Ms. Dikshit to campaign as yet.
Looking ahead
For the Congress, which has been the principal Opposition in the municipal corporations since 2007, how it fares in the upcoming elections could impact how it moves towards the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections.
Mr. Chidambaram, Mr. Scindia, Mr. Ramesh, Mr. Tharoor and Mr. Khurshid have already participated in the process of drafting the party’s manifesto, giving their views on fiscal management, sanitation, education and health services of the municipalities of Delhi.
Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken said at an event to inaugurate candidates’ election offices on Monday that the city had seen “unprecedented” development when the party was in power in the Capital for 15 years. Instead of carrying on the work, he said the AAP government had only made excuses for failing to fulfil promises.
