The year of 2022 has been defining one in many respects for the Congress party with internal election happening for the first time in 22 years, launch of the ambitious Bharat Jodo Yatra and an electoral victory in Himachal Pradesh.
This year, the party not only conducted internal elections in which Mallikarjun Kharge become the party chief, but also managed to silence Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) consistent attack on Congress that it cannot choose anyone outside the Gandhi family.
Mr. Kharge may have been seen as an 'unofficial' nominee of the Gandhis, but the fact that Shashi Tharoor, another contender who contested against the former, managed to get over 1,000 votes in an electoral college of 9,000-odd delegates lent credibility to the electoral process.
A non-Gandhi at the helm to manage party affairs also allowed former party chief Rahul Gandhi to undertake his ambitious Bharat Jodo Yatra, a 3,570-km-long Kanniyakumari-to-Kashmir padyatra to fight what the party claims "BJP's politics of hate".
"I did not see any violence or hate during the Yatra, but when I watch the TV (news), all I see violence and hatred,” said Mr. Gandhi on Saturday while addressing a public rally outside Delhi's Red Fort.
Though the Congress claims that the yatra is non-political, it is certainly being used to mobilise workers, infuse fresh energy into the organisation and change the narrative against Mr. Gandhi.
"PM [Narendra Modi] and the BJP spent crores to tarnish and ruin my image, but I showed the truth to the country in just a month," added the former Congress chief, who is also an MP from Wayanad district of Kerala.
But the yatra's electoral impact is yet to be assessed. "The goodwill that Rahul ji has generated through his hard work needs to be carried forward and translate it into electoral success in the Hindi belt," says Kishore Kumar Jha, a senior leader from Bihar.
Other than the challenge from regional parties, there is a growing challenge from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that is seeking to fill the vacuum for a national alternative to the BJP.
The AAP not only dislodged the Congress in Punjab but also damaged it in Gujarat, where the party was decimated because of a split in the anti-BJP votes.
Going ahead, the electoral challenge in 2023 includes wresting back Mr. Kharge's home State of Karnataka and retaining Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
The leadership battle between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan is far from over but the leadership is yet to take a decision. In Karnataka too, the party faces intense factionalism between former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and party chief D.K. Shivakumar camp.
"Mr. Kharge should send a strong signal by taking stern action against growing indiscipline or else, the gains of the Bharat Jodo Yatra will all be lost," says Naresh Dadhich, professor of political science, who retired as the Vice-Chancellor of Kota Open University.
