New Delhi:The Congress on Monday said the key message of the Karnataka poll results was that “brand Rahul” was in and “Modi magic” had failed. The Congress wrested power from the BJP in the southern state by winning 135 of the total 224 assembly seats. The BJP secured 66, the JD (S) 19 and four others. “Karnataka has shown that brand Rahul is being talked about in the country while the famed “Modi magic” has failed. If someone thinks that Modiji would come with a magic wand and win the polls, it is not going to happen. Rahul’s strike rate in terms of seats the Congress won wherever he campaigned is much higher than that of PM Modi. Rahul’s strike rate comes to around 80 per cent as compared to 40 per cent of PM Modi,” Congress social media head Supriya Shrinate said.
“The Karnataka polls were also important as they were the first polls that took place after Rahul’s 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' and his disqualification from the Lok Sabha,” she said. The Kanyakumari to Kashmir yatra took place between September 2022 to January 2023 and was centred around its 'Bharat Jodo' message against the alleged divisive politics of the BJP.
Rahul’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha came on March 24, a day after he was convicted and sentenced by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case involving the Modi surname. According to AICC secretary in-charge of organisation Vamshi Chand Reddy the mood of the nation was in favour of Rahul rather than Modi.
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“Rahul covered around 51 constituencies during the yatra and the BJP could win only four out of these, which were their traditional seats. In comparison, wherever PM Modi campaigned across Karnataka, the BJP lost 25 seats. This is a clear indication that the mood of the nation is in favour of Rahul rather than Modi,” Reddy said. Shrinate argued that “The people of Karnataka gave a message to Rahul saying we are with you because you are fighting our battle. Through this resounding win for the Congress, the people have given a strong response to the dictators, who think they can take away somebody’s Lok Sabha membership.”
Shrinate further said the people of Karnataka have given a message that they like political parties to talk about public issues like jobs and education. “The voters have given a message that they want no comparisons of Bajrang Dal with Lord Bajrangbali, they don’t want any Hijab, Halal issues and no playing the victim tactics,” she said. According to Shrinate, the voters in the southern state took note of the fact that Rahul walked 4,000 km across the country during the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', embraced the common people and wiped their tears along the route.
“The Karnataka results showed that the politics of love has won over the politics of hate. A love shop has been opened in Karnataka. But, this is just the trailer, the full picture remains. More such love shops will be opened in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram (coming assembly polls) and in the 2024 national elections,” she said. Shrinate, who supervised an aggressive social media campaign in Karnataka, thanked the volunteers for their support while saying that the mainstream media is usually quick to credit the PM for an election victory but has reservations when similar credit is due to Rahul.
