Rahul Gandhi sets a brisk pace, takes up the slack

Though the Congress is yet to come up with a tagline, party chief has already travelled to 12 States.

No time to lose: Rahul Gandhi interacting with IT professionals in Bengaluru recently.

The Congress is yet to come up with its tagline for the 2019 election though the first phase of voting is just 20 days away, but party president Rahul Gandhi may have compensated for it with non-stop public rallies.

Since March 10, when the schedule was announced, the Congress chief has travelled to 12 States addressing public meetings, press conferences and interacting with different voter segments. The States covered include Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura.

But Mr. Gandhi is yet to start campaigning in the Hindi heartland of Uttar Pradesh, though the party has named several Lok Sabha candidates. In fact, the Congress has so far announced nearly 146 Lok Sabha candidates.

The party is making an all-out effort to win the support of first-time voters and young professionals, a segment that abandoned it in the 2014 election in favour of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Of an estimated 90 crore voters, close to 9 crore or 10% of the electorate are first-time voters.

To tap into this segment, Mr. Gandhi has been focussing on having interactions with students. So, if there was a session at Chennai’s Stella Maris College, in Imphal, the Congress invited students from different institutions in Manipur to have a chat. Mr. Gandhi promised more reservation for women in government jobs and affordable higher education.

“Private people have their own role but the government should ensure low-cost, high-quality education. I am pretty clear on this,” said the Congress chief in Manipur.

Party insiders say apart from addressing public rallies, Mr. Gandhi is targeting specific groups to reach out. “In the 2014 elections, there was a wave in favour of Mr. Modi but it is not there this time. So, people want to hear what the Opposition has to say on policy issues,” said a Congress leader.

In Bengaluru, the Congress chief interacted with entrepreneurs and owners of start-ups where he promised to scrap angel tax and reform the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

In Chhattisgarh while interacting with healthcare professionals, Mr. Gandhi promised increased spending in the health sector.