Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the two major political parties, the BJP and the Congress, have started showing their might by holding roadshows and strategy meetings. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a small roadshow at the start of BJP’s national executive meeting, while Rajul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ continues in Punjab. BJP president JP Nadda told the national executive that “2023 is an important year for the party as it will have to contest elections in 9 states”. The meeting was attended by 350 members, 50 permanent invitees, 179 special invitees, including 35 Union ministers, 12 chief ministers and leaders of opposition and state party chiefs.
BJP’s strategy is clear. It has Narendra Modi as its strong leader, and the party will seek votes in the name of Modi, be it assembly elections or parliamentary elections. The focus will be on Modi’s clean image and his ability to directly benefit poor people. The party will try to reach out to people, take feedback and remove weaknesses.
On the contrary, the strategy of the Congress is to attack Modi’s image. This has been the focal point of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. Congress leaders claim that the BJP leadership is worried about the increase in the number of people in the yatra. Rahul Gandhi’s strategist Jairam Ramesh on Monday said that while Modi’s roadshow is event management, Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is a movement.
Rahul’s journey is about to complete four months and he has covered a distance of 3,200 kilometers from Kanyakumari to Punjab. There has been no change in his style of speaking, his dialogues and at times it seems as if his speech, style of presentation is the same. This is not only Rahul’s problem, but it is common to Congress leaders. The next Congress session will be held in Raipur, Chhattisgarh from February 24 to 26.
The Grand Old Party wants to contest and win elections in the same traditional way. Elections are due in Karnataka in April this year. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reached Bengaluru on Monday and addressed a women’s rally. It was named Na Nayaki, which means, I am a woman leader. He promised that his party would give a monthly stipend of Rs 2,000 to every female head of household in Karnataka. Earlier, the party had announced to give 200 units of free electricity to every household. Priyanka Gandhi alleged that Karnataka ministers are taking up to 40 per cent commission in government projects.
In the last assembly elections in Karnataka, the Congress was seeking re-election after ruling for five years, but its tally fell from 122 to 80 in the house of 224. The Congress-JD(S) coalition government fell due to defections, and the BJP, which was the single largest party, is now in power. After Gujarat, Rajasthan and MP, Karnataka is the only state where the Congress is in direct competition with the BJP. Congress has leaders and workers in Karnataka, but the party is facing factionalism. The rivalry between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar is well known.
The party high command is trying hard for a reconciliation on the lines of Rajasthan, where Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot are at loggerheads. Due to the lack of a strong leadership at the centre, factionalism in the party seems to be the bane of Congress politics. The BJP leadership is on the contrary, which is visible to all.
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