Congress' poll strategy: focus on strategically handpicked 32 seats

Party has intensified rallies and roadshows in these constituencies in which it won or came a close second in 2013

With its back against the wall, the Congress party has channelised its resources to a strategically picked 32 constituencies in the national capital, though it is contesting on all 70 seats. The party, which was almost decimated in the 2013 Assembly election, thinks the worst is over. The Congress hopes to bag at least 12 seats, where it believes it is in a strong position.

These shortlisted 32 seats are those where Congress won or came a close second. In Sultanpur Majra constituency, the Congress candidate Jai Kishan won last time. In the neighbouring seat, Nangloi Jat, the Congress lost by a margin of eight per cent votes. The party hopes to win these two this time. Besides these two, the party would focus on Muslim-dominated seats such as Okhla, Seelampur, Ballimaran and Mustafabad. The Sadar Bazaar constituency from where Congress face Ajay Maken is contesting figures on the list.

To ensure better coordination on these crucial seats under the seven parliamentary constituencies, the party appointed seven senior Congress leaders, including Bhoopinder Singh Hooda, Salman Khurshid, CP Joshi, Anand Sharma, Mukul Wasnik, Virbhadra Singh and Pawan Bansal.

“We know for sure that the in at least 10 to 13 seats this time around, the decisive margin will be very narrow. So every vote counts and in each of these shortlisted constituencies we will have to ensure that our voters step out to vote,” said a Congress strategist.

With 150 booths in every constituency, even losing out on a nominal five votes in each booth can tantamount to 750 votes in a constituency - a sizeable figure considering the narrow margins between defeat and victory.

For the Congress which needs to ensure that it still retains its votebank in the capital so that it is not headed the UP Congress and Bihar Congress way, this is a fight for survival.