Will Rahul’s Orissa visit revive Congress?

Rahul Gandhi discovered many things about Orissa on his ‘Discovery of India’ tour. During his four days stay in the eastern state, the Congress General Secretary visited Nuapada, Koraput, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Ganjam, Cuttack, Jaipur, Khurda, Angul and so on. I mean half of the state.

As widely said, the tour is all about winning hearts and minds of people. Being the General Secretary of India’s oldest political party and future possible Prime Minister, Rahul understands it much better. That’s why he selected KBK region; the region where he can find real ‘Aam Admis’, whose suffering at once compelled his father, Rajiv Gandhi, accompanied by Sonia Gandhi to visit the region 23 years ago.

Rahul said,

Kalahandi ka, aur Adivasiyon ka Delhi mein ek sipahi hai; uska naam Rahul Gandhi Hai" (For Kalahandi and the tribals, there is a soldier in New Delhi; His name is Rahul Gandhi.).

The words are inspirational, at least for the local leaders who are losing their presence in the tribal heartlands gradually.

Orissa withstood the Congress resurgence across India in 2004 general elections. Despite the dual dangers of incumbency at the State and national level, Naveen led BJD-BJP coalition held on to their position in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.

With both assembly and general elections round the corner, the state Congress leaders will definitely make a point over Rahul’s recent visit. For, they have joined hands to woo the people, though the party was a much divided house.

Will Rahul’s recent visit revive Congress in Orissa?