Even as Narendra Modi’s coronation was in progress at Goa, at Rahul Gandhi’s Tughlaq Road residence in New Delhi, the Congress war room presented a scene not much different from the Marriott hotel.
Congress members who were glued to the live coverage at the goings on in Panaji congratulated each other; there was a visible sense of joy. With Modi’s elevation, the Congress now feels that polarization which the Gujarat Chief Minister is bound to introduce, will help consolidate their Muslim vote bank.
At Jaipur’s Chintin Shivir, that was the theme presented by a young Congress member from Maharashtra who argued in an approach paper that while corruption and inflation would be central issues in the elections, the party needed to cash in on Modi’s hard line image to consolidate its position amidst the minorities.
Based on this approach paper, the party fleshed out its political resolution and set up a task force under Rahul comprising AK Anthony, Digvijay Singh, Ambika Soni, Jairam Ramesh, Mukul Wasnik, Sam Pitroda, Salman Khurshid and BK Hariprasad to act as a bridge between the government and the party.
According to Congress calculations, there are a total of 128 Lok Sabha seats where Muslims account for more than 20 percent of the vote. UP leads with 23 such constituencies, Maharashtra 20, Bihar 16, Karnataka 6, Jharkhand 4, MP 4, Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir 6 each, Assam and Andhra Pradesh 5 and West Bengal three. It is calculated that the Modi factor would prompt a direct assault on the BJP in favour of the Congress.
In addition, there are 95 such constituencies where the Muslim-backward vote can be a winning combination.
Aimed at that, the Congress is pulling out all stops. Its many Muslim faces have come out of the broom closets: Mohsina Kidwai, Salim Shervani, Salman Khurshid, Rashid Masood and Noor Banu are all expected to make an impact in UP which is the centre piece of any election strategy.
In addition, the party is seeking to induct as many Muslim faces as possible from other parties and possibly even use the ulema (clergy) for political purposes.
Congress’s tactics are understandable because Modi is set to pull out all stops in UP. His key aide Amit Shah is already the UP BJP chief and there is speculation inside the party that Modi himself may choose a constituency in UP, hell bent on restoring his party in a state where it has all but disappeared.
As far as the election campaign is concerned, the Congress machine is already in motion. Word is being spread thus: if BJP could not be run by Vajpayee and Advani, what can Modi do? Already, a number of pro-minority measures are on the way. The HRD ministry has five such programmes for educational upliftment of the Muslims and more are expected. The Bharat Nirman programme is expected to include a strong minority component and is directly under the supervision of Jairam Ramesh.
