Congress Himachal win: Flash in pan or revival before 2024 elections?

On December 11, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu took oath as the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh after a decisive victory by the Congress. Wresting the state from BJP has been explained away by various political pundits but what does the victory mean for the Congress in the coming year, in the lead-up to 2024?Is it a signal of the revival of the party? Or is it a flash in the pan? To help us understand, we speak to The Times of India political editor Subodh Ghildiyal on what the win means for the Congress.According to Subodh, size-wise and influence-wise, Himachal Pradesh may have a minimal clout among states as far as national politics goes. It has only a 68-seat Assembly which gives four Lok Sabha seats in Parliament.However, Congress was waiting to win the state with bated breath. Despite its limited size and influence, the win means a lot for the Congress party. This is because the last clear electoral win that Congress enjoyed was in 2018, when they won Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. While they lost Madhya Pradesh soon after, they retained the other two states.Then the 2019 Lok Sabha elections happened, and BJP came back with a greater majority, and since then, Congress has been losing out electorally. Riven by internal problems like Rahul Gandhi quitting the presidency and not finding a party president, the Congress has been adrift for the last three years.Congress insiders say how units did not know what to do: there was no signal coming from the centre, and the lack of direction demoralised the rank and file as well as the leadership.Mallikarjun Kharge’s election to the post of Congress president thus assumes importance, putting an end to the sense of rudderless leadership.Of course, it is still to be seen what role is being assigned or carved out for the Gandhi family, which remains the foundation of the Congress party. Will they remain as star campaigners? Or have a more internal role? These will be questions answered in the plenary session of the AICC which will be held in February 2023.The on-going Bharat Jodo Yatra thus becomes a mass connect programme for the party. It seeks to achieve two goals: position itself as the prime anti-BJP force to the public, distancing itself from the other Opposition parties.The second goal is to connect to the people. In spite of its very limited political muscle, the Bharat Jodo Yatra has enabled Congress to build up a popularity and a mass connect that could help in the long term.So what does 2023 hold for the Congress? While 2022 ended on a positive note, 2023 has many challenges. Tripura is a state where Congress is hoping to make a dent, and so too in Karnataka. In fact, Karnataka is a state where Congress has a strong organisational pull, and the party has strong hopes there.The next states in line would then be Madhya Pradesh, where it has hopes of winning, especially after its win in the Mayoral elections; and, of course, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, where it is in power.The year 2023 will decide the atmospherics for 2024, and would thus be a crucial year for the Grand Old Party.Audio production: Basant Singhal