2nd and Final survey of Gujarat Elections - Part 2 - The Congress strategy.
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2nd and Final survey of Gujarat Elections
Part 2.
The Congress strategy.
2nd and Final survey of Gujarat Elections
Part 2.
The Congress strategy.
The Congress’ strategy—best described as high-risk, high-reward—rests not on its projection of a coherent vision for the state or the country or the projection of a dynamic national leader but rather a high-decibel rejection of the status quo.
The party’s game plan in Gujarat has three principal components:
The first is to emphasise on its criticism of the BJP for engaging in cynical majoritarian politics that is divisive—and potentially destructive—to the idea of India. The Congress portrays the BJP as a force that seeks to divide and rule India’s diverse populace while attempting to impose a homogenising vision of who is truly “Indian”.
It criticized the choice of a firebrand like Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister of UP, it alleged that the BJP was trying to impose Hindi at the cost of Tamil or Telugu, or persistently sounded the drumbeat of Ram Mandir. It alleged that BJP was systematically polarising India and no minority is safe—linguistic, religious, or otherwise.
The second component was to hit the BJP hard on the economy, the government’s calling card. The strategy was to paint a portrait of an economy that has been slowing consistently since 2016.
On the economy, the Congress harped on two frailties: rural distress and the lack of jobs. On demonetisation and GST, the Congress has chosen to play a more nuanced game. Wary of the tag of being hand in glove with black money hoarders, the Congress focussed on the botched implementation of demonetisation. On GST, the Congress accused the BJP of mishandling the design and rollout.
The third and final component was to arrange political marriages of convenience; these are pacts not between friends but between enemies of enemies. The centerpiece of this strategy was the formation of a grand opposition coalition—the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP), and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)—in Uttar Pradesh that would create a mathematical juggernaut (at least on paper). The Bihar triumph of Mahagathbandan 2015—in which the JD(U), RJD, and Congress fought in tandem— was the template.
Hence, Rahul Gandhi tried and stitched up a coalition with 3 people – Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mevani - who have nothing in common and whose politics is counter productive and against each other.
Into the campaign, when Rahul Gandhi found that his strategy is not cutting much ice with the electorate and the appeal of the HAJ trio is not churning the magic he had envisaged – RaGa suddenly reinvented himself as a devout Hindu Brahmin and started visiting temples.
End of Part 2.
@ Dayanand Nene
Alert Citizens Forum
The party’s game plan in Gujarat has three principal components:
The first is to emphasise on its criticism of the BJP for engaging in cynical majoritarian politics that is divisive—and potentially destructive—to the idea of India. The Congress portrays the BJP as a force that seeks to divide and rule India’s diverse populace while attempting to impose a homogenising vision of who is truly “Indian”.
It criticized the choice of a firebrand like Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister of UP, it alleged that the BJP was trying to impose Hindi at the cost of Tamil or Telugu, or persistently sounded the drumbeat of Ram Mandir. It alleged that BJP was systematically polarising India and no minority is safe—linguistic, religious, or otherwise.
The second component was to hit the BJP hard on the economy, the government’s calling card. The strategy was to paint a portrait of an economy that has been slowing consistently since 2016.
On the economy, the Congress harped on two frailties: rural distress and the lack of jobs. On demonetisation and GST, the Congress has chosen to play a more nuanced game. Wary of the tag of being hand in glove with black money hoarders, the Congress focussed on the botched implementation of demonetisation. On GST, the Congress accused the BJP of mishandling the design and rollout.
The third and final component was to arrange political marriages of convenience; these are pacts not between friends but between enemies of enemies. The centerpiece of this strategy was the formation of a grand opposition coalition—the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP), and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)—in Uttar Pradesh that would create a mathematical juggernaut (at least on paper). The Bihar triumph of Mahagathbandan 2015—in which the JD(U), RJD, and Congress fought in tandem— was the template.
Hence, Rahul Gandhi tried and stitched up a coalition with 3 people – Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mevani - who have nothing in common and whose politics is counter productive and against each other.
Into the campaign, when Rahul Gandhi found that his strategy is not cutting much ice with the electorate and the appeal of the HAJ trio is not churning the magic he had envisaged – RaGa suddenly reinvented himself as a devout Hindu Brahmin and started visiting temples.
End of Part 2.
@ Dayanand Nene
Alert Citizens Forum
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