The Congress Party is set to honor its former national president, Sitaram Kesri, on his 25th death anniversary today at the party headquarters, 24 Akbar Road, New Delhi. Senior leaders and party workers will gather from 10 a.m. to pay floral tributes to the late leader, who played a significant role in strengthening the Congress organization during his tenure.

However, political observers believe this sudden remembrance of Kesri—27 years after his unceremonious removal from the post in 1998 when Sonia Gandhi took over as interim president—is not merely sentimental. It’s being seen as a well-timed political strategy aimed at influencing the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.

Kesri, who hailed from an OBC Bania family in Danapur, Patna, was deeply connected to the state’s Dalit and EBC vote base. By celebrating his legacy now, the Congress is attempting to reconnect with this crucial section of voters, countering the RJD’s traditional Muslim-Yadav (MY) equation.

Sitaram Kesri began his political journey during the freedom struggle, being arrested multiple times between 1930 and 1942. He was part of Bihar Congress’s “Young Turks” group, which included future chief ministers Bindeshwari Dubey, Bhagwat Jha Azad, and Satyendra Narayan Sinha. Kesri later became a five-term Rajya Sabha MP and served as the AICC treasurer for over a decade.

Political analysts suggest that Congress’s move to highlight Kesri’s legacy is aimed at reviving its lost ground in Bihar. As the party looks to rebuild its base, remembering a prominent OBC leader like Kesri could help it regain influence among backward classes and add new dimensions to the existing caste arithmetic in the state.