New Delhi : The Congress is playing on the front foot in the middle of the 2024 national elections based on an internal assessment that there are several positives going in favour of the grand old party.
According to party insiders, the Congress social media campaign was dominating the various platforms, a space where the BJP used to have an edge earlier.
Further, the party’s manifesto centered around the promise to deliver lakhs of government jobs within months of getting elected and the assurance to curb high prices of essential items was finding favour among the youth and women voters, the insiders said.
At another level, the kind of coordination taking place among the INDIA bloc allies on the ground was also contributing to a swing in favour of the opposition grouping, said party insiders.
According to party insiders, all these factors coupled with indicators that the people were looking for a change prompted former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to accept a public debate offer knowing well that the move would pitch the party leader directly against PM Modi.
“The Congress is certainly playing on the front foot after three phases of polling. We are running a very aggressive campaign both on the ground and through social media. Our campaign is based on issues related to the people and they are responding to our rallies by coming in large numbers. Besides, our aggressive social media campaign has gone down to the common people who are amplifying our messages on their own. They are angry over the 10 years of the Modi government which was full of tall claims,” AICC secretary in charge of Gujarat BM Sandeep Kumar told ETV Bharat.
“As far as our leader Rahul Gandhi accepting an offer of a public debate is concerned, it is a very democratic move. There should be a healthy debate in democracy over relevant issues. But my sense is that the PM will not join the debate as he is afraid. So far, we have not heard him talk about his achievements despite ruling for the past 10 years. He is only trying to create controversy by bringing up divisive issues. In contrast all former prime ministers of the Congress party had a long list of achievements to share with the people,” he said.
According to AICC secretary in charge of Maharashtra Ashish Dua, there had been opposition groupings in earlier national elections as well but the kind of coordination taking place this time was unusual.
“I have seen several alliances in the past. Mostly the top leaders would come together, campaign and go. The alliance local party workers would not gel with each other. But this time, the way workers of various opposition parties have come together and are contributing to ensure the victory of the alliance candidates is something special. This in fact reflects the strong undercurrent against the Modi government among the people who are silent,” Dua told ETV Bharat.
The AICC functionary questioned the BJP’s claim that a Modi vs Rahul kind of contest would help the saffron party.
“The PM projects the image of a strong man but he has never addressed a press conference over the past 10 years. There have only been scripted interviews to select media groups. In contrast, Rahul Gandhi has addressed around 150 press conferences over the past decade. He is open to tough questions. If the BJP thinks a Modi vs Rahul contest would help them, why is the PM shying away from a public debate, something which is very normal in a democracy,” said Dua.
“The BJP spent thousands of crores of rupees to paint a negative image of Rahul Gandhi over the past decade but the Bharat Jodo Yatra shattered their propaganda. No wonder, there has been a huge response to Rahul Gandhi’s messages on social media of late,” he added.
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