New Delhi: In a late-night stock taking meeting in Delhi on Tuesday, chaired by Rahul Gandhi, discussing the challenges before the Congress in Gujarat Assembly Elections, the party’s assessment was that Rahul’s first leg of campaign in the state has been fairly successful.
On the flip side, what concerns the Congress is that Narendra Modi is yet to hit the campaign trail in the state; there are nagging worries if Congress has peaked a tad too early.
Congress is aware that the next leg of Rahul’s campaign will have to be aggressively positioned so as to provide a counter narrative when it matters the most.
Though many options to counter BJP's blitzkrieg were discussed in the meeting, it was finally decided that Congress should not digress from the political line it has pursued so far in Gujarat.
The focus of Rahul's campaign will remain on the state of economy with special emphasis on GST and demonetisation.
Once bitten, twice shy, the Congress does not want to rake up emotive issues which BJP may use to its advantage. In other words, the party does not want a repeat of Sonia Gandhi’s 'maut ka saudagar (merchant of death)' statement that gave BJP a huge advantage in 2007 elections.
Congress is aware that, like in UP polls, religious polarisation may work to BJP's advantage. The party this time has taken enough pre-emptive measures to counter that.
Rahul Gandhi’s temple visits are an attempt to play the Hindu card. Recently, in an interaction, Rahul invoked Lord Shiva. "I am a bhakt of Shiva and I speak the truth," he said.
In terms of optics and in choosing his daily programmes, Rahul's team has been very careful this time around. The Congress VP has been visiting a couple of temples everyday he has been out campaigning in Gujarat.
In fact at the strategy meeting in Delhi, it was decided, contrary to demand from some quarters, that Ahmed Patel's nail-biting win would not be used to hit out at the BJP.
The political adviser and a close aide of the Congress president has himself been a most astute practitioner of back channel politics.
Ahmed Patel has been conspicuous by his absence during the entire Gujarat campaign. He has rarely been seen by Rahul’s side in this campaign. Only twice to be precise.
Even when Ahmed Patel was dragged by BJP into a terror related arrest in Gujarat, Congress decided to handle the issue tactfully. Patel issued a couple of clarifications and allowed the issue to blow over.
A top Congress source said, “We know why this controversy was raked up. They want to trap us but we want to avoid being dragged into issues like these.”
In fact, when a magazine recently wrote an article about a case related to a judge who heard the Sohrabuddin case, strict instructions went from Congress media department not to discuss or react strongly on this.
The lure of the BJP to discuss Hinudtva versus minority is a debate Congress clearly wants to evade. In fact even as Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel flaunted his reservation deal with Congress, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi threw a bait seeking to know Congress' stand on quota for Muslims.
Congress once again refused to get drawn into the controversy. State in-charge Ashok Gehlot accused Owaisi of making statements which would benefit the BJP.
Even on Triple Talaq, Congress gave a measured response when asked to react on government's intention of bringing in a bill to ban instant divorce.
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