Congress pins big hopes on Saturday by-polls

Assembly by-elections are, as a rule, not given much importance. However, the recent Bihar by-poll results to 10 seats had the non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Opposition and the Congress scoring over the BJP, six to four. Following this, the polls on Saturday to 33 legislative Assembly seats across nine states has got non-BJP parties energised.

Sensing an edge over the BJP, the Congress has mobilised resources in the states for these by-polls. Three Lok Sabha seats also go to the polls on the same day - Vadodara in Gujarat, Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh and Medak in Andhra Pradesh.

"The fact that we managed to win one seat out of 10 in the fray for the recent Bihar by-polls and when we are organisationally at our weakest in the state has been a great boost for the party and party workers all over. We are leaving no stone unturned to boost our chances in these by-polls," said a Congress leader.

The party has pushed senior campaigners into service - Ghulam Nabi Azad, Digvijaya Singh, Sachin Pilot and Bhupinder Singh Hooda - to canvass for the 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh. In Assam, where the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government faced a political crisis due to dissension from within a few weeks earlier, C P Joshi, the party general secretary in charge, is personally liaising with block in-charges, setting targets and deadlines to ensure the three at stake don't be a spoiler for the party in the run-up to the state polls in 2016.

However, despite the Congress trying to get its act together, after its Lok Sabha debacle three months ago, factionalism in some state units is hitting its prospects. In Chhattisgarh, where the single seat of Antagarh is in contention, the Congress is left with no candidate. Its nomination was rejected and the 10 Independents it was banking upon have withdrawn. While state chief Bhupesh Baghel blames the ruling BJP for threatening its candidates, party sources say their rival factions have also been at work to spoil the chances.

In BJP-ruled Rajasthan, the Congress is hoping to win two of the four seats going to the polls. State party chief Sachin Pilot has a lot at stake, having to prove his credentials after losing in the Lok Sabha polls.

Good news from these by-polls on the coming Tuesday, when the counting of votes is scheduled, would galvanise the beleaguered party in the run-up to the multiple Assembly polls at the end of the year.