Lucknow: The Congress always claims to be the single party which is secular in India, but the picture is different in Uttar Pradesh, where the party has begun to play the caste card to regain mass base before the Assembly elections in the state in 2022.
 
The grand old party is targeting its traditional vote bank which has already shifted to other political parties. The Brahmins were revealed as the Congress’s vote bank in the state in the early 90s when the party was in power and most of the leaders belonged to the Brahmin community.
 
Now, the Congress is eyeing the 9% vote share from the Brahmin community for the next Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. This vote share has become a major winning factor for the last two decades in state politics and where this vote bank shifted to, that party won.
 
The Congress is aiming to come back to power through caste politics in Uttar Pradesh. The party’s general secretary and in-charge of state, Priyanka Gandhi, is making her presence in the state since her debut in politics.
 
Even Priyanka had also made an effort to woo upper caste voters in the general elections last year. But, she failed and the Congress lost its stronghold Amethi seat.
 
The Congress is battling for existence for the last three decades in the state and started to woo Brahmins through 'Brahmin Chetna Samvad' on social media platforms under the leadership of the party’s well-known Brahmin face and former Union minister Jitin Prasad.
 
Prasad said Brahmins were feeling isolated in the state and many organisations and people from the Brahmin community had raised concerns over the steps taken by the Yogi Adityanath’s BJP government in the state.

According to the party strategy, the Congress will connect with advocates, teachers, and people from other professions of the Brahmin community through social media amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Uttar Pradesh. The party will get feedback from the grassroots about the state government’s performance and policies.