Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections 2018: Congress shifts tack to counter the RSS

Party uses small groups focussed on ‘people’s issues’ in response to Sangh’s door-to-door campaign to rally support for BJP

November 20, 2018 09:34 pm | Updated 09:34 pm IST - Bhopal

From the ground up:  Congress State president Kamal Nath and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh interact with party workers in Bhopal.

From the ground up: Congress State president Kamal Nath and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh interact with party workers in Bhopal.

Away from high-pitched campaigns and media interactions, former Lok Sabha member Sandeep Dikshit of the Congress is quietly planning his next meeting under the banner of the Rachnatmak Lok Vistar Samiti (Panel for the constructive expansion of people’s interests) with his associates at the India Coffee House in Bhopal.

The panel, led by Mr. Dikshit, is the Opposition party’s latest counter to the door-to-door campaigning undertaken by the RSS and its affiliates to seek support for the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh.

When upper caste groups — traditional backers of the BJP in the State — openly voiced their protest against the NDA government’s decision to amend the SC/ST Act in the wake of the Supreme Court diluting some provisions, the RSS went door-to-door to reassure these groups and prevent a split in votes on caste lines.

“They [the RSS] work on religious identity but we work on people’s issues,” said Mr. Dikshit, who has been camping in Madhya Pradesh for the past few months.

Nearly 700 different social groups had been working with the Congress in the current campaign, Mr. Dikshit said, declining to divulge the names of the organisations that had associated with the party.

“These are groups that are working among the people and are from diverse areas like farmers’ interests, forest rights, resettlement and land rights, Dalit rights and rights of the urban poor,” said the former Congress MP from Delhi, who had worked in the social sector in Madhya Pradesh before joining politics.

‘Social alliance’

Tasked with the job of reaching out to different interest groups by Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath, Mr. Dikshit has been busy trying to forge a “social alliance” of organisations that primarily focus on farmers, tribal people and the urban poor.

So, how does this “social alliance” work on the ground? First, the Congress under the banner of the Lok Vistar Samiti convenes a meeting of activists and organisations where the activists ask the Congress leaders to spell out their stand on various issues with which their group is associated.

Activists are then expected to act as “influencers” who carry the Congress message to the voters without being active party members.

“Our collaboration is not with regard to giving ticket or choosing candidates. These organisations have put forth their views and it is reflected in our manifesto,” said Mr. Diskshit, notwithstanding the fact that the Congress has roped in a prominent farmer leader Kedar Sirohi into the party.

With almost 70% of Madhya Pradesh engaged in agriculture and allied activities, the Congress manifesto has promised loan waivers to farmers, a halving in tariff rates for electricity and more power to panchayats in scheduled tribal areas.

Tribal people make up 21% of the State’s population and have 47 seats reserved for them. In the previous Assembly elections, the BJP swept them, winning 35. Many believe it was largely because of the work done by Sangh affiliates like the Vanwasi Kalyan Ashram.

The Congress is keen to reverse the situation. “Don’t forget that there was a Modi wave in 2013 but tribal people are realising that the Congress stands for preserving their culture whereas the BJP and Sangh want it to be part of a greater religious identity,” Mr. Dikshit said.

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