Despite Narendra Modi’s high-decibel campaign and an unapologetic resort to “Hindutva” by innuendo, there has been no change in the Congress strategy.
NEW DELHI: With just a day to go for campaigning to end in Gujarat, the Congress has refused to fight fire with fire. Despite Narendra Modi’s high-decibel campaign and an unapologetic resort to “Hindutva” by innuendo, there has been no change in the Congress strategy of trying to pin down Modi by attacking his record of governance.
In many ways, this also reflects the problem the Congress faces. It cannot hope to engage Modi in a war of words. More so on an emotive issue. Nor can it play the soft Hindutva card. Last time, when the Congress tried that strategy, it came a cropper.
Barring Sonia Gandhi’s stray “merchants of death” remark, which gave Modi the opening he was looking for to bring Hindutva politics in through the backdoor, the Congress has been choosing its words carefully.
So much so that it advised RJD’s Lalu Prasad to stay away from the campaign for fear that he may say something provocative that could be picked on by Modi group.
With Modi hell-bent on giving every issue a communal turn, the Congress’ poll managers believe their best bet lies in trying to tap into the discontent among the underprivileged sections such as tribals and farmers, whose plight remains largely unmitigated under Modi’s rule.
This is why it has mobilised Dalit leaders within the party — power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and minister for poverty alleviation Kumari Selja — and outside it (Ram Vilas Paswan of the LJP) for the last phase of campaigning.
The party is throwing everything it has into the final phase of the campaign. Its top leadership, from Sonia Gandhi downwards, has been deployed in the state. The Congress chief rounded off her campaign by addressing three election rallies on Thursday, while Rahul Gandhi is expected to pitch in with a road show in Vadodara on Friday.
For its last and final push, even an ailing Arjun Singh and Pranab Mukherjee have been rushed to the state to do their bit.
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