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© 2006-2018 Kasturi & Sons Ltd. -vijay kumar [email protected] - EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THE HINDU CHENNAI FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2019 OPED 11 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YES, NO, IT’S COMPLICATED Will Priyanka Gandhi change the fortunes of the Congress? YES and Raman Singh have es. In the process, a Con­ Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Narayan amongst the upper castes. Her connect with women and her experience all successfully cultivat­ gress revival at the grass­ Dutt Tiwari and Sripati Mishra. The­ At the macro level, Ms. Vadra will in campaign management will help the party ed this image of vikas- roots level can be a possi­ reafter, it has been the Mandal ver­ be an equal to Congress president waadi (pro­develop­ bility somewhere in the sus Kamandal theme, where power Rahul Gandhi in national cam­ I believe that Priyanka Gandhi Va­ there are no ‘pan­Indian’ national ment) Chief Ministers. future, if not in this has circulated mainly between Ya­ paigns. She will also help modify dra will make a positive difference parties, nor are there leaders with Eastern U.P. is a caul­ round. davs and Dalits. With Yogi Aditya­ the ‘Rahul versus Modi’ pitch. Be­ to the fortunes of the Congress, al­ such an appeal. The image of a pan­ dron of poverty and un­ nath becoming Chief Minister (he is sides enthusing workers, she will beit for reasons different from what Indian party or leader is manufac­ derdevelopment, await­ Politics over the years known to have a Rajput lineage), it lend an ear to workers and local the proponents of dynasty politics tured by political advertising done ing its turn for roads, hospitals, However, this argument is open to is a revival of the politics of the up­ politicians who have complaints would like us to believe . Calcula­ most effectively by active participa­ electricity and other public servic­ the criticism whether the Congress per castes in U.P., this time in com­ against Akhilesh Yadav and Maya­ Manisha Priyam tions of realpolitik are responsible tion in election campaigns. And if es. Besides, women have emerged elevated her for doing noble politi­ bination with dominant leaders wati — not all the anti­incumbency is an Associate Professor for her having come to the forefront victory comes by, then spending as an important demand group for cal deeds without expecting politi­ from amongst the Backward Class­ votes will go to the BJP. Meanwhile, of educational policy at of the electoral arena. Until now, State budgets on advertising the developmental deliveries. It is in cal fruits. Far from it — the Congress es or in alliance with splinter forma­ her effort will be to bring a crop of the National University her role in politics was limited — at leaders — especially their work in this context that Ms. Vadra’s soft ap­ understands that its last round of tions of the Extremely Backward karyakartas of the Congress on the of Educational Planning best a “fieldwork in­charge” of Rae development and welfare. It is State proach, connect with women, and State politics was played in the Classes. In an overt sort of way, it is streets, irrespective of who wins and Administration Bareli and Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. politics that has been producing prior experience of campaign man­ 1970s with Brahmin Chief Ministers this BJP move that gives Ms. Vadra the battle in U.P. Times have company­style CEOs in a democra­ agement in this region will come to like Kamalapati Tripathi, Hemvati the opportunity to begin discus­ changed since the 1970s, and the No pan-Indian parties/ leaders cy — Chandrababu Naidu was the her aid. She can at least connect Nandan Bahuguna, and Narayan sions with important caste groups Congress has realised that the new For one, the Congress understands first amongst Chief Ministers to with poor voters, especially wo­ Dutt Tiwari, and then in the 1980s such as the Brahmins, and initiate script of post­Mandal politics holds that the route to power is by taking have been anointed in this way. Nit­ men, and build a constituency that with a combination of Rajput and issue­based discussions on reserva­ opportunities in U.P. that Ms. Vadra Assembly elections seriously — ish Kumar, Shivraj Singh Chouhan demands delivery of public servic­ Brahmin Chief Ministers such as tions for the economically poor could very well nurture. Her charisma is not enough. The party needs a ner­up in only six seats. progress on the organisa­ has substantial support from the that will depend more on local fac­ NO This means it would be tion front and mobilised Yadavs, Jatavs, a section of the Jats, tors than the entry of Ms. Vadra. strong organisational structure and cadre the primary opponent the support of new com­ as well as Muslims. Hence, if the Congress wins in in only eight seats. In munities behind it. The Kushinagar or Barabanki or Saha­ It seems unlikely that Priyanka 71; its ally, the Apna Dal, won two; vote percentage terms , party seems to be lacking Limited capability ranpur, credit for it would go to Gandhi Vadra’s ‘formal’ entry into the SP won five; the Congress won the BJP­Apna Dal got on both counts. Its organ­ Where does the Congress stand in former MP R.P.N. Singh or P.L. Pu­ politics would drastically improve two; and the BSP and RLD did not around 43% of the votes isation has been in poor this highly polarised scenario, and nia or Imran Masood, who have the party’s electoral fortunes in win any. However, the SP and BSP in 2014, the SP­BSP­RLD shape since the early which are the communities that will considerable influence and com­ U.P. in the general election. In elec­ were in the second position in 65 got 42.98%, while the Congress 1990s and continues to have pro­ be voting for it this time, just be­ mitted supporters in their regions. toral politics, a combination of or­ seats, while their ally in the Maha­ could get only 7.53%. In this scena­ blems such as groupism and a lack cause of Ms. Vadra? In the absence The local electoral equation is also Rajan Pandey ganisation, ground­level equations, gathbandhan, the RLD, was the rio, while it’s likely that the BJP­Ap­ of cadres. In contrast, the BJP, SP of an organisational structure, favourable to them. is a freelance caste/community dynamics, and runner­up in one seat. Thus, if we na Dal alliance and the SP­BSP­RLD and BSP, and even the RLD in west­ cadre, programmes, and newer so­ In politics, charisma does work, journalist and charisma is needed for success, and go by the past Lok Sabha results, alliance will be in a neck and neck ern U.P., can boast of a robust or­ cial sections rooting for it, the capa­ but not without proper organisa­ co-author of the Congress seems to be lacking in the BJP­Apna Dal alliance will be the contest, expecting the Congress to ganisation and cadre. In terms of bility of the Congress to efficiently tion and social engineering. Ms. Va­ ‘Battleground U.P.: all of these in U.P. except the last. primary contestant in the whole of reach even the two­digit mark in support of communities, the BJP al­ contest and micromanage these dra may be able to revive the U.P. Politics in the Land of U.P. and will face the SP­BSP­RLD the State would be overambitious. liance is influential among the up­ elections is extremely limited. That Congress in the long run, if she con­ Ram’ The 2014 election results alliance as primary opponents in at Still, the Congress’s electoral for­ per castes and some sections of doesn’t mean that the Congress’s tinues dedicatedly in politics, but In the 2014 elections, out of the 80 least 71 seats. Other than winning tunes would have turned around non­Yadav OBCs and non­Jatav Da­ numbers would remain static ; it that is surely going to take some Lok Sabha seats in U.P., the BJP won two seats, the Congress was a run­ for good had it made substantial lits, while the SP­BSP­RLD alliance may win three­four more seats. But time. It is not going to happen now. IT'S She cannot bank on her family name and star the fray a bit late, but the she implemented . In a peal amongst the youth and first­ the bleakest moment for the Con­ COMPLICATED moot question is, what survey in which I was in­ time voters, as well as Brahmins, gress, and struggled to find a narra­ status; she needs a narrative does she stand for? volved, some time back Muslims, and women. Mr. Modi tive. Mr. Gandhi today seems to What is the narrative in Punjab, it was quite a captured the imagination of the as­ have found not only a narrative but Politics is a complex matrix of mul­ the image of being bold, having the and can she correctly surprise that in Ambed­ pirational youth in 2014. Ms. Vadra a new purpose in his virulent polit­ tiple variables and it is always diffi­ ability to take risks, being honest, identify the moment kar colonies, elderly Da­ can upset this equation in a major ical criticism of the BJP and the cult to predict which of them will and having good intent. Today, Mr. and articulate it? In the lits spoke of Mrs. Gandhi way provided she has a narrative. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He make the final splash. Among them, Modi is being tested on the same facelessness of the neo­ with affection.

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