NEW DELHI: Three generations of the Congress party’s top leadership were seen together walking along the city streets on Saturday, filling the hearts of Congress functionaries with hope of revival in Delhi if the central leaders conducted a sustained campaign in a place that elected the party to three consecutive terms.Apart from Congress stalwarts such as Digvijay Singh, P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh and the Gandhi family members who participated in the Delhi-leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, there were veterans like former MP Jai Prakash Agarwal, ex Union minister Ajay Maken, former state presidents Subhash Chopra and Arvinder Singh Lovely and a host of ex-MLAs. With them were the party’s young faces in Delhi, including state president Anil Chaudhary, vice-presidents Abhishek Dutt, Mukul Agarwal and Ali Mehdi and women leaders Alka Lamba and Amrita Dhawan.When Congress fared its worst ever in the civic polls recently, the fall in electoral prominence was attributed to factionalism, ego fights and lack of resources. After failing to secure a single seat in the past two Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Delhi, Congress won nine of the 250 seats in Municipal Corporation of Delhi in December.Claiming that the Gandhi family was the glue that bound the party together, Dutt said, “Everyone who voted for Congress, all the karyakartas who made it possible for Congress to remain in power for 15 years at a stretch came to see Rahul Gandhi in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.”Chopra said Rahul’s march reflected the faith that people reposed in Congress and their support for the former Congress president. “The party will only get stronger from here. Yes, we are undergoing a bad phase, but the kind of love people have given to Rahul Gandhi today, I am convinced we will do better now,” said Chopra.A senior Congressman said, “In the recent MCD polls, several leaders did not participate actively. We need more large-scale campaigns and central intervention to ensure that everyone works together to revive the party.”The road from Badarpur to Ashram to Red Fort was decked up with tricolours, balloons and posters of Rahul as the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Delhi early on Saturday morning. People from Haryana and Delhi joined the Yatra at the Badarpur border and raised slogans applauding Rahul and his rally to “unite India.” The marchers were showered with flower petals on the way.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/3-generations-of-leaders-give-congress-hope/articleshow/96485124.cms
