Much has been written about how the BJP came back from behind to win the elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh—Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popular appeal, Home Minister Amit Shah’s poll management, and so on and so forth. Congress party’s “freebie” and caste politics crumbled, evidently. What hasn’t been talked about is the mini-wars that played out in the Congress party’s backrooms. They might not have influenced the results decisively but they may help us understand the priorities of Congressmen over and above electoral victories and defeats.
On 19 September, the day the Congress launched Jan Akrosh Yatra in Madhya Pradesh, poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu’s team in Bhopal got a message from state unit chief Kamal Nath to vacate their office provided by him, according to party insiders. That was about two months before voting in the assembly election. The team, operating from a house in 74, Bungalow, was given a few days to wind up their operations but they left in three hours instead.
In hindsight, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Kanugolu. He shifted his team to another location in Bhopal and gave feedback if asked to, but he shifted his entire focus to Telangana. He is now credited with the party’s victory there. What has, however, left Congress leaders bewildered is the way Kamal Nath went after Kanugolu, unmindful—or probably mindful—of how it would affect the party’s electoral prospects.
Party insiders tell me that about 30-35 candidates recommended by Kanugolu’s team after extensive surveys were changed “arbitrarily” by the party’s “big leaders” in Madhya Pradesh. Nath even refused to fund the social media campaign planned by Kanugolu’s team. Randeep Surjewala finally arranged the resources for it. “Given that the CBI and the ED turned the heat on Kamal Nath’s family (his sister Nita and nephew Ratul Puri in a money laundering case), we were expecting him to put his heart and soul into the poll campaign to teach the BJP a lesson. But the fire somehow went missing in the last 8-10 weeks. He was either over-confident—and so complacent—or just didn’t care,” an AICC functionary told me.
Incidentally, then-Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot had also shut the door on Kanugolu but that was because he chose to go with Naresh Arora’s DesignBoxed.
Given Rajasthan voters’ penchant for choosing the alternate party every five years—turn the roti or it will burn—and given how the Congress had been reduced to 21 seats in the 200-member assembly the last time it lost in 2013, party leaders are not very disappointed with the results. Arora did manage to bring the Congress back into the fight and keep the BJP on tenterhooks until the end. Arora has argued that there was high anti-incumbency against 50 MLAs but the party didn’t replace them for fear of rebellion.
What he didn’t say in as many words is that Ashok Gehlot wouldn’t let go of his loyalists, given that Sachin Pilot was sure to again throw down the gauntlet to him if the Congress won. The high command was expected to go with Pilot this time if the party retained power. So what if the Congress lost, Pilot didn’t win! Gehlot may have reasons to see victory in defeat.
Also read: Vishnu Deo Sai is new Chhattisgarh CM. What’s behind Modi-Shah’s push for fresh faces in states
Same story, different state
In Chhattisgarh, the Congress’ campaign was virtually run by ex-comrades of Jawaharlal Nehru University. Priyanka Vadra’s PA Sandeep Singh, former president of the JNU students’ union, was virtually the strategist-in-chief. He came from AISA or All India Students Union, students’ wing of the CPI(M-L) Liberation. Sandeep got many fellow comrades on board, notably Akbar Chawdhary, another former JNUSU president from AISA who launched his own political consultancy, Matrix Intelligence. With Priyanka’s PA becoming the backroom strategist, state Congress leaders had little or no say. Then-CM Bhupesh Baghel also chose to go with Priyanka’s team. With their experience in contesting JNUSU elections, they decided the campaign strategy and the candidates. “You would laugh if you looked at their surveys. The party paid heavily, of course—electorally and otherwise,” one of the party leaders told me.
These backroom stories from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh are being talked about in Congress circles now, but in whispers. Had Kanugolu and Arora had their ways and Sandeep Singh didn’t, would it have made any difference to the results? It’s difficult to answer in ‘yes’ or ‘no’. But I can say for sure that nothing will change in the Congress. For one, Sandeep Singh will be playing a bigger role in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Who in the Congress can question Priyanka Vadra’s PA?
Having said that, why blame backroom players? In the larger scheme of things, what matters is the party’s message and how credible and convincing the messenger is. If people repose more faith in Modi’s guarantees as against Rahul’s or Priyanka’s, it should be the end of Congress’ “freebie” politics. If the promise of caste census got no additional votes for the Congress in these three states, it’s a signal to Rahul Gandhi to abandon it. The fact, however, is that he is not ready to read these signals. On Tuesday, he saw in Amit Shah’s attack on Jawaharlal Nehru a ploy to distract from caste census because the BJP is afraid of it.
Really!
DK Singh is ThePrint’s Political Editor. He tweets @dksingh73. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prashant)