Jobs, corruption, farm distress top Cong poll agenda
NEW DELHI: Victories in three heartland states at the end of last year brought cheer to the Congress under Rahul Gandhi, but its mettle will truly be tested in this summer’s Lok Sabha polls when it takes on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Congress seemed confident a few weeks ago but after the February 14 Pulwama bombing and a dogfight that ratcheted up India-Pakistan tensions, the party seems to have lost its early momentum and ceded ground to the BJP.
Gandhi led from the front in the assembly elections, helping the party wrest Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh from the BJP. He tore into the ruling party on a range of issues -- alleged wrongdoing in the Rafale fighter jet deal, rising unemployment, growing farm distress, and flawed implementation of demonetisation and the goods and services tax (GST) .
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the party is seeking inputs for its manifesto from a cross-section of people. And it is yet to zero in on advertising and public relations firms to design its outdoor, print, electronic and social media campaigns and draft slogans that touch a chord with voters. Gandhi has made it clear to his party leaders and workers that they should go into the elections keeping the focus on people-centric matters and not let the BJP weave the narrative around divisive or polarising issues. Among issues in focus is a proposal for a universal basic income and an urban jobs programme on the lines of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which provides 100 days of work.
The Congress president’s relentless campaign on the Rafale deal worked well despite apprehension among some party colleagues that it could backfire.
In January, Rahul Gandhi appointed his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia as party general secretaries and put them in charge of east and west Uttar Pradesh, respectively.The move galvanised the Congress cadre as evident from the response to the interactions the two general secretaries held with party leaders and workers in Lucknow for four days from February 11.
But the Congress campaign got derailed with Pulwama attack, following which the BJP-led government seized the initiative by adopting a muscular approach, and ordering an air strike on a terrorist camp run by the Jaish-e-Mohammed.
The Congress deliberately adopted a low profile, as a result of which its campaign visibly lost steam, while both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah crisscrossed the country seeking
CONGRESS CAMPAIGN GOT DERAILED WITH PULWAMA ATTACK, FOLLOWING WHICH THE BJP-LED GOVT SEIZED THE INITIATIVE BY ADOPTING A MUSCULAR APPROACH, AND ORDERING AN AIR STRIKE ON A JAISH TERRORIST CAMP
the party’s return to power. Congress is seeking to catch up only now, with Gandhi set to address elections rallies in the coming days.
The Congress is also lagging behind the BJP is in stitching up alliances. While the BJP has sealed tie-ups in many states, including the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and the Janata Dal (United) in Bihar, the Congress failed to do so in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi and is still trying to address seat-sharing issues in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Bihar.
Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu are the only two states where the Congress has finalised seat-sharing arrangements. While it is part of the United Democratic Front in Kerala, there is no clarity on Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir.
To be sure, the Congress did manage to beat the BJP in releasing the first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls. Out of the 15 candidates it has named so far, 11 are from Uttar Pradesh and four from Gujarat. “Congress is fully prepared to throw out an indifferent Modi regime with an overwhelming support from the people of the country,” said the party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Political analysts said there was no doubt the Congress would perform better than it did in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when it sank to 44 seats in the House, its lowest tally ever following damaging corruption scandals, but its poll strategy has lacked the sharpness that is required to beat an opponent like the BJP.
“Their preparation is really really bad. They (Congress) have not been able to form alliances in UP and in Delhi and they also have some issues in Maharashtra,” said Sanjay Kumar of the Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. “They will definitely improve their performance in 2019 because there is not the kind of revulsion among the people now that we saw in 2014. There is also some decline of support for the BJP.”
However, he said the situation has to some extent changed post-Pulwama. “It is going negative for the Congress and positive for the BJP,” Kumar added.
In Uttar Pradesh last month, Gandhi said the Congress will play on the front foot in the elections. If it indeed does so, a keen contest is on the cards.