As we enter the last phase of elections both  the incumbent government and the opposition are going hammer & tongs at each other in a bid to capture power. 

While the ruling NDA with BJP as it’s  dominant  partner looks set for a third term the Congress and other regional  players are trying hard to make an impact .

But for the opposition to deliver in this election the Congress  will have to perform  out of it’s skin and  at least treble it’s  numbers from it’s  2019 tally to be of any consequence to the opposition and be a force to reckon with on the national scene.

The Congress  has been  reduced  to a regional  player by the BJP in the last two elections with 44 & 52  seats in the 2014 & 2019 elections and it will  be a humungous task for the grand old party to raise it’s  score in the lower house.

Where does Congress  get the numbers as it’s  old bastions  have long been  taken away by the BJP.  The Congress  had a chance to resurrect  it’s  image in the assembly  elections  5 months back in the big ticket  states of Rajasthan, Madhya pradesh, Chatisgarh but it’s  loss in these states has set it on the backfoot going into the Lok sabha elections. 

The hindi heartland  accounts  for almost  230 seats comprising states like UP, Rajasthan, Madhya pradesh, Chatisgarh, Bihar and fringe states like Haryana,  Punjab, Himachal & Uttarakhand. 

The Congress has a government in Himachal which  accounts  for just 4 lok sabha seats and draws a blank in the rest of the states putting the party at a huge disadvantage. 

With  the Modi factor in play the Congress  will  find it  very hard to put up a good  performance  in these states particularly  so when it has lost the assembly  polls in Rajasthan,  MP & Chattisgarh recently.

 The Congress will have to face the might  of the BJP alone in these  states and will not have the cushion of piggybacking on regional players barring Punjab & Bihar  to some extent & it’s  performance  or the lack of it will define it’s  role amongst the opposition  ranks. 

If the Congress  is unable to garner numbers in these states which seems most likely  then it will  have to look southwards which has 131 seats up for grabs. 

The Congress  is in power  in karnataka which  it won from the BJP in 2023 and has a chance to spoil the BJP  numbers.  All 25 of the BJP seats in the south in 2019 came from karnataka and the party drew a blank in the rest of the southern states. 

Congress’s  best bet in the south  lies in Telangana, karnataka and Kerela  as it has governments  in  the first 2 which it recently  one and would  want to better it’s  performance  from 2019.

 In Andhra the Congress  is a non entity pitted against  the Troika of TDP, BJP & JDS on one side and the ruling  (YSRCP) on the other . Jagan Mohan Reddy’s sister merging her party with  the Congress  seems to be the only  silver lining for the party but the results  would  be late in coming. 

The UDF alliance  in kerela headed by the Congress  is in a good  position  to take  the major  chunk of 20 seats on offer. In Tamil Nadu the Congress  is piggybacking  on the DMK and contesting in 10 out of the 39 seats  including  1 in Puducherry . Thus going by it’s  recent performance the Congress  is better placed to win seats in the south  of Vindhyas  compared to the north where it had a dismal run. 

In Maharashtra  the Congress  is contesting  in just 17 seats out of 48 and hoping that it’s  alliance  partners the Shiv sena(UBT) & NCP(SP) will romp it home. 

In Gujarat the Congress  has failed to open it’s  account in 2014 & 2019 and 2024 looks no different. The party is contesting  in 24 out of the 26 seats leaving  2 for AAP. 

West Bengal & Odisha have 63 seats on offer & the Congress is pitted against  the formidable BJP  BJD alliance in Odisha & the TMC in West Bengal where the Congress  is in alliance  with the CPIM. It’s  another matter that Mamta  is for the moment  supporting the ‘INDIA ‘ alliance  from the outside.

 The Congress  needs a minimum  of 150 seats on it’s  own to be of any substance  to the opposition alliance and in order to emerge from the label of a regional  party which it has been  consigned to in the past decade by the BJP.  

If that happens  the Congress  would  be able to resurrect  it’s  image partly but will that be enough  for it to stake it’s  claim to form the government along with  it’s allies. 

As things stand the grand old party would  be consigned  to the opposition  benches for the third consecutive  time.