Not just the Congress high command, the tussle has begun among the regional party leaders as well. After the defeat in the recent elections, they are accusing each other openly. Sheila Dikshit has attacked DPCC president JP Aggrawal for the Delhi defeat. She said that the party organisation didn’t help her adequately in the polls
Usually, there is no tradition in the Congress to challenge the authority of the Gandhi-Nehru family. PV Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesari would often be confronted by fellow leaders, but the ‘family’ never faced any such defiance — at least openly. After the decision on Telangana and in the wake of the Congress’ defeat in four States, however, the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul, is under serious threat. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Kiran Reddy is leading the rebellion. Recently, he challenged the Congress high command and said: “I will see how they opt for division (of Andhra Pradesh); let them send the proposal first, then we will show what we can do.” likewise, six Congress MPs from the Seemandhra region have sent a no-confidence notice to their own Government. It is being said that these MPs will either join the YSR Congress or the TDP. Congress sources claim that if the party loses the 2014 elections, then there will be a bigger, more organised rebellion against the family.
Not just the Congress high command, the tussle has also begun among the party leaders. After the defeat in the recent elections, they are busy accusing each other openly. Sheila Dikshit has attacked DPCC president JP Aggrawal for the Delhi defeat. She said that the party organisation didn’t help her adequately during the polls. It needs to be noted that before the Assembly elections, Rahul Gandhi had met the two leaders at least four times.
As for Digvijay Singh, he has revealed how some party leaders camped for almost a month in Delhi, lobbying for tickets. But who are these leadersIJ When the chairman of the party’s campaign committee in Madhya Pradesh, Jyotiraditya Scindia, started his campaign in the State, MPCC president Kantilal Bhuria was seen camping in Delhi. Bhuria is believed to be close to Singh. Then, there were Premchand Gupta and Sajjan Singh Verma who lobbied hard for a ticket in Delhi; interestingly, they too are close to Singh. In Chhattisgarh, too, the internal squabble has begun with State Congress president Charan Das Mahant blaming Ajit Jogi for the party’s failure.
CASTE POlITICS NO MORE
People in four States which went to polls recently have rejected both the Congress and the regional parties thriving on caste equations. In Delhi, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the JD(U), which had put candidates on the caste basis, have been rejected. In Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh respectively, Kirodi lal Meena’s Rashtriya Janta Party and the Sanatan Samaj Party too couldn’t get any support.
In the last general elections, the BSP had got 17 seats in these four States; but this time Mayawati’s party could get only eight seats. In Delhi, the BSP had won two seats and got 14 per cent of vote share, but this time the party couldn’t win even a single seat, with its vote percentage going down by nine per cent. likewise, in the 2009 elections, the Samajwadi Party had won two seats in Delhi but this time it didn’t even get a single seat. Sohaib Iqbal has won this time on a JD(U) ticket, but the party can’t claim any credit for this; Iqbal has won the last four elections solely on his charisma. Nitish Kumar was in Delhi for three days and campaigned for several seats, but 26 out of his 27 candidates could not even save their deposit!
MUSlIMS STIll WITH CONGRESS
In Delhi, this can be a point of satisfaction for the Congress: That Muslims have not left the party yet. Traditionally, the Congress would get Muslim, Dalit and migrant votes in the Capital, while the BJP would get the Punjabi and Bania votes. This time Sikhs, Gujjars and Jats have mostly cast their votes either for the BJP or the AAP. The Congress has won eight Assembly seats and, interestingly, four of them are led by Muslims. Then, there is Prahlad Singh Sawhney, who has won the Muslim-dominated Chandni Chowk seat for the party. Before the elections, both the Congress and the BJP were of the view that the AAP would get the middle class votes, but Arvind Kejriwal’s party managed to make inroads into Dalit and migrant vote-banks, hitting the Congress badly. The party, however, is expecting that if the elections are held in April-May, then these voters would return to the Congress.
ANTI-MODI POlITICS on rise
The Congress has strategically decided not to give any credit to Narendra Modi for the BJP’s splendid performance in the recent Assembly elections. Ajay Maken, media in-charge of the Congress, recently convened a meeting of party spokespersons and decided that all efforts should be made to deny Modi any credit for the BJP almost sweeping the elections. They, instead, would like to eulogise regional stalwarts of the BJP and give them credit for the party’s electoral successes. It was also decided to give emphasis to local issues and, of course, the rise of Arvind Kejriwal.
Modi, however, isn’t the only problem for the Congress. The party is also worried about its allies and probable allies. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said that the BJP has not won because of positive votes but due to negative votes against the Congress. Other regional parties are rethinking on having any alliance with the Congress. NCP leader Sharad Pawar has targeted the Congress leadership and called it weak and indecisive. Though Farooq Abdullah has emphasised that the National Conference will remain within the UPA’s fold, his son Omar Abdullah has praised Arvind Kejriwal and advised the Congress to make amends.
BJP WITHOUT BASTAR
Before the Assembly elections, almost all BJP leaders were of the view that Bastar might cost the party its Government in the State. But Raman Singh has proved it wrong. He has achieved victory without Bastar. This time the BJP could win only four seats out of 12 in the Bastar region. In 2008 the BJP had won 11 seats. Despite this, the party could win 49 seats — just one short of its tally in the last Assembly.
It is being said that after the first round of polling, Raman Singh could sense that the BJP was not going to perform well in Bastar. So, he began to focus on the non-Bastar regions. He put all his energies in the Raipur zone where the party has won 15 out of 20 seats this time. Also, Raman Singh took advantage of the Congress’ overconfidence after everyone had written off the BJP in Bastar.