Congress strives to get the caste calculus right

THE ADDITION OF OBC LEADER ALPESH THAKOR AND POSSIBLE SUPPORT FROM PATIDAR LEADER HARDIK PATEL AND DALIT ACTIVIST JIGNESH MEVANI HAVE RAISED PARTY’S HOPES

NEWDELHI: For the first time since 1995, the Congress is energetic and fancying its poll chance sin the home turf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

The optimism stems from the crowd response to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’ s public meetings over the past two months in which he has take non the Prime Minister over demo net is at ion and troubles with the Goods and Services Tax, in a bid to woo traders and the middle class – two key constituents of the BJP’s support base.

The addition of O BC leader Alpesh Thakor and possible support from Patidar leader H ar dik Pate land Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani have also raised hopes of a turnaround for the party after 22 years.

“The Congress is no longer in defeatist mood. There is no doubt great resentment against the BJP. But the challenge for the Congress will be to tap this popular resentment and convert it into votes,” said Ahmed a bad-based analyst Pr aka sh Shah.

Congress leaders say the B JP down slide in Gujarat started in 2015 when the ruling party suffered its worst loss in local body elections and insisted that Modi’s “Gujarat Model” has lost its steam.

Leaders say the exit of veteran leader Shankersinh Vaghela has not had major impact on the Congress at ground level and the absence of Modi has appeared to have worked in its favour. A victory in the local body elections in December 2015 was the firstsign ofaCongressrevival.It wonmore than double the number of pan ch a ya ts than the BJP, though it was defeated in urban areas and municipal corporations.

“Th e BJP’s position has worse ned due to the note ban and G ST. These two decisions have ruined small and medium traders and the middle class as well,” senior Congress leader Arjun Modhvadia said. “People of Gujarat are fed up with BJP and want to teach them a lesson in this election.”

“Had Mo di’ s Gujarat Model worked, they would not have been wiped out in local body polls. There is an overwhelming support for Congress from across Gujarat now and that will be reflected in assembly elections,” Modhvadia said.

Party leaders say a hard-fought victory for Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Pa tel in the Raj ya Sabha polls in August this year helped the party pick up momentum .Thewin, which came after a clutch of Congress legislators quit and a late-night hearing at the election commission, buoyed the party. A win in Mo di’ s home state will give a major boost to the Congress’ revival efforts at thenational level ahead of the 2019 Lo kS ab ha elections.

Congress leaders privately say they are assured of support from Pat id ar leader H ardi kP ate land Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani. With the addition of OBC leader Alpesh Th a kort his week, the Congress also hopes to win over the OB Cs, Pat ida rs and the Dalits that almost makeup 60% of the state.

Some in the Congress say they are aware of the danger of going back to the KHAM (Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi, Muslim) strategy that brought the party to power in 1980with a record victory but alienated the dominant castes who went to the BJP.

“There is unrest among all sections of the society. Patidars, tribals, youth and farmers have launched agitations and are on streets against the BJP rule. For us, all castes and sections are same and we will take everybody along,” former state Congress chief Siddharth Patel said.

Other experts say the Congress’ campaign has been boosted by anti-incumbency against the ruling B JP .“Even Jyoti Basu( of the C PI-M) lost in West Ben gal. There is visible restlessness among they out hand several other sections of the society ,” said Gujarat- based political analyst Vi dyutJ os hi.

The Congress has not declared its chief ministerial candidate and party leaders suggest this works to their advantage and checks factionalism as well. “There is no such tradition in Congress. The entire Congress is united and we all will ensure that BJP bites the dust this time,” said Patel.