Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 18: The Congress seems to have decided to follow the Karnataka pattern in Madhya Pradesh by trying to eliminate the ruling BJP levelling allegations of corruption and promising freebies to the people if elected to power.
The formula has worked for the Congress in Karnataka securing a clear majority by ousting the ruling BJP in the state. Congress leaders said the party was determined to make a comeback in Madhya Pradesh where it had claimed more seats than the BJP in the last elections but lost its government when a section of its elected members resigned and later joined the BJP under the leadership of Jyotiraditya Scindia.
The first serious charges of corruption against the BJP was levelled by the Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who had called the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government as “50 per cent commission government” on the lines of the Karnataka campaign where it labelled the Basavraj Bommai administration as the 40 per cent commission government and clicked with the voters.
An angry BJP has filed several police complaints against Priyanka and demanded evidence to prove its allegations. The local Congress leaders had claimed that there were plenty if evidences available to justify the charge and would be produced when required.
Priyanka Gandhi had also announced the Congress election promises. “Today, I’m giving some guarantees that we will fulfil 100 per cent. We made this promise to the people of Karnataka. The government there passed the bill as soon as it came to power,” Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had said at a rally in Jabalpur on June 12.
“Every month, women will be given ₹ 1,500. Gas cylinder will be available for ₹ 500 and 100 units of electricity will be free. The cost of 200 units will be halved. The old pension scheme will be implemented in Madhya Pradesh and poor farmers in heavy debt will get complete loan waiver,” she said, explaining the five guarantees that will be implemented in Madhya Pradesh should the Congress comes to power.
One of the first moves by the Congress on the Madhya Pradesh chess board was to make Randeep Surjewala take charge of the state. Surjewala was earlier the Congress’s Karnataka in-charge. With the big mandate in Karnataka, the Congress strategist for the southern state, Sunil Kanugolu, has also been tasked to bring similar results in Madhya Pradesh,
In Karnataka, the Congress campaign’s line of attack was the charge of “40 per cent commission” on the then ruling party, while in Madhya Pradesh the party has raised the allegation by an extra 10 per cent to “50 per cent commission” charge.
“There was corruption even inside the Kumbh Mela; there was Simhastha Mela here. There was corruption in the construction of the temple of Mahakal,” Congress leader Digvijay Singh said. Madhya Pradesh BJP chief VD Sharma said the Congress is trying to mislead the people and the BJP will respond strongly.
“The Congress is trying to mislead the people with a fake letter. A strong reply will be given, each and every worker will reply to Priyanka Gandhi. You will have to answer. You have committed a crime of defamation,” VD Sharma said.
The BJP, catching up on this narrative, has been using new methods to attack the Congress in Madhya Pradesh. A day after a meeting of the BJP’s central election committee, the party announced the names of 39 candidates in Madhya Pradesh.
“Our preparations are going on in a war-footing. The Congress appears to be scared of announcing candidates’ names. We have named our candidates. Our generals are in the field now,” the Chief Minister said.
The Congress is holding meetings at the divisional level in Madhya Pradesh. Some 230 MLAs will from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and will meet people across the state for seven days. Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Madhya Pradesh on Sunday, during which he will attend a host of programmes as the BJP looks to intensify its campaign after releasing its first list of candidates.
Meanwhile, the newly-appointed president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Ajay Rai, who had twice unsuccessfully contested elections against the prime minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi in 2014 and 2019, claimed that Rahul Gandhi would contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Amethi, his old constituency where he was defeated last time by the union minister Smriti Irani. Rahul, however, was elected from Wayanad in Kerala.
He also added that if Priyanka Gandhi wishes to contest from Varanasi then each and every Congress workers would put all the energy for her success. “Rahul Gandhi ii will ‘definitely’ contest from Amethi. Priyanka Gandhi will contest from wherever she wants; if she wants to contest from Varanasi, every worker put their all-round effort to make sure she emerge victorious,” said Rai to reporters.