By Liz Mathew, IANS
New Delhi : Determined to unseat Narendra Modi, the Congress in Gujarat is pumping in an army of leaders backed by a slick campaign blitz to take on the chief minister, knowing well that the December assembly election could determine the timetable of the next parliamentary polls.
And the Congress is hoping that the growing disaffection in Gujarat’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will add to the advantages of an opposition eager to pounce on the apparent discontent caused by seven years of Modi regime.
Congress strategists know it is not going to be easy, however, in view of the overarching influence of Modi, the way he led the BJP to a thumping victory in 2002, and the weaknesses of the Congress in one of India’s most industrialised states.
Although the BJP’s hold is clearly slipping and the party won only 14 of 26 parliamentary seats in 2004, Modi is supremely confident of covering lost ground and retaining power too.
So the Congress is taking no chances. It is engaged in bringing out attractive colour posters, in Gujarati, questioning the record of Modi’s governance. Clearly, the highpoint of the posters are the youth and Congress president Sonia Gandhi – but not Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The Congress leadership has appointed 13 senior leaders, including ministers, in charge of Gujarat’s all five divisions – North, Central, Saurashtra, South and Kutch.
These include ministers Prithviraj Chavan, Renuka Chowdhury, Subodh Kant Sahay, Sriprakash Jaiswal and Kantilal Bhuria as well as veteran leaders like Digvijay Singh, Mukul Wasnik, Govindrao Adhik and Mabel Rebello.
Sonia Gandhi has also appointed senior leaders in each of the 36 districts to oversee the election work, B.K. Hariprasad, party general secretary in charge of Congress, told IANS.
Hariprasad is busy nowadays poring over the posters, which will soon make their way to Gujarat, which the BJP considers its Hindutva laboratory.
Gandhi has also appointed observers for all 182 assembly constituencies. They have been asked to be in the state from Nov 10 to Dec 16, to ensure that nothing goes wrong. Gujarat will vote Dec 11 and 16.
A Congress leader from Gujarat said his party would challenge Modi’s claims of turning Gujarat into an economic success story.
“Most of our advertisement materials are meant to expose the hollowness in Modi’s hype about the state’s development,” said the leader who did not want to be identified.
The Congress has decided to focus on the youth – many of their ad campaigns have young faces questioning the Modi government’s claims on development issues.
“Its attempt is to expose the huge gap between the reality about Gujarat and the picture projected by Modi,” the Congress source said.
One of the advertisements say the state’s debt was Rs.344.5 billion when Modi took over in October 2000, replacing Keshubhai Patel, and it has touched Rs.800 billion now.
“We have requested the Congress president to send Rahul Gandhi to the state. We hope he will join us for the campaign,” said a party leader.
Asked if he would campaign in Gujarat, Rahul told IANS last week that he would do so if the party asked him.
The Congress is also planning to send young MPs Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Milind Deora to the state for campaigning.
However, Sonia Gandhi would be the party’s star campaigner. Party leaders say she is hugely popular in the state, notwithstanding the often vitriolic attacks she is subjected to by Modi on account of her foreign origin.
The posters have lavish photographs of Gandhi’s interactions with tribal people, among the poorest in the state, and women in Gujarat.
Manmohan Singh figures in the posters in a rather obscure manner – almost hidden, that too in just two posters.
“It is a now or never situation for the Congress. We have to pull all the stops to defeat Narendra Modi,” admitted a party strategist.
Naturally, the Congress is expecting some crucial help from the enemy camp. And with second rung leaders of BJP fuming against Modi, the cracks are showing.
“BJP rebels including Suresh Mehta have pledged to oust Modi,” admitted a senior minister in the Manmohan Singh government.
But other sources said that rebels like Mehta and Gordhan Zadaphia, who had a crucial role in 2002 Gujarat riots, would not join the Congress because they may become political untouchables in that party.
Said a senior Congress leader: “If we win in Gujarat, then that will expedite the Lok Sabha elections (due in 2009). If we lose, well, we will have to wait.”