was an emphatic victory in Karnataka. And what will that mean for the control of the Gandhis over the Congress Party? Remember, this was the first, the second victory, actually two victories in two states for the new president of the Congress Party under Malika Juna K's presidency. So what will this mean? Will it strengthen the control of the Congress over the over the over the state over the party? Gandhi had a message for Karnataka and Basu. Gopal tries to decode that. So on Saturday, exactly a week after the Congress won a comfortable majority in the state of Karnataka, the party managed to form the government there. This happened after deliberations led by the Congress High Command, with the state's words like Suraya and Bike Kumar. On Saturday morning, the party leadership in Delhi also issued a list of ministers who would take oath. And in the evening, Sonia Gandhi issued a media statement in which she thanked the people of Karnataka and promise them that every guarantee promised by the by the party to the people of the state will be PFI now. Does the Katica election put the Congress Party in a better spot in the opposition space. It's too early to say that. Does the Congress, uh, get a better fighting chance against the B JP for 2024 because of Karnataka? It's too early to say that, too, because in 2014 the party was reduced to 44 seats and in 2019 it was reduced to reduced to 52 seats. But what are the reasons why we think that the Congress leadership, especially the Gandhi family, the first family of India's grand old party gets more importance because of the Karnataka elections is because of this, starting with the way the Congress leadership handled the dispute between the C M contenders in Karnataka. So the Congress Party has always been criticised for not dealing with the problems with the fault lines between its own state leaders. We have seen problems between Na do an Arida Singh in Punjab. We have seen a repeat of the situation between and Kamal Na mash and in Rajasthan. There's this ongoing fight between Ashok and such in pilot. When it came to Karnataka, however, the family was very clear that there was a long, engaging dialogue with not just a Maya but also dikes Kumar. And while Rahul Gandhi had made it very clear that the choice of those MA would be supreme and their preferred choice would be the C. M, it was Malika Juke and Sonia Gandhi who ensured that D. K. Shibu Kumar was also on board with the decision because this mattered for the party both short term and long term interest. The dynamic between Malika Jun Kar, who comes from the Dalit community and the Gandhi family, is also something to watch out for, because still, now it looks like the Gandhi family is very cautious and careful of ensuring that no decision of Mr KBE is undermined. And the third and most important thing here is the Yara and the way the Gandhi's campaign in Karnataka starting with. If you remember, there was a lot of criticism that Rahul Gandhi was not taking the Yara to the poll bound states then of Guar and H P. But Rahul had made it clear that this was more of a political and ideological statement for him and he wanted to keep the elections away from it. Of the 21 seats that the Yara passed through, the Congress Party has won about 16, which is 11 seats more than what it was in 2018. Now, Karnataka is also an exception here because both in Gandhi and Sona Gandhi have contested on the state and one so the state definitely has historical and family linkages for the family. The real test of the Congress strategy will be in the states of maharajas Chas, which will follow end of this year, and that is where the semifinals of 2024 actually lies.
