Congress needs to up its game in communication, BJP shows how

Nine years of rule is not exactly a landmark. The milestone numbers considered for celebrations generally are five years, 10 years and so on. It is in this context many might be wondering as to why the Modi government has embarked on a series to celebrate nine years of its rule! Considering that the government, the ministers and all leaders down to Panchayat level have been tom-tomming about the BJP’s performance during the last nine years as though the work did not exist before 2014. And even if it did, it was full of corruption and misrule.

Ground realities apart since politicians of all hues and colours are not bothered, let us consider the communication strategy of the ruling party at the Centre. Politricks have been its trade. It has turned each and every event, launch of various schemes, trains and flights into election rallies. They never seem to be running out of topics. In the absence of any credible counter from either the Grand Old Party (GOP) or the rest of the opposition, what BJP or the Centre says goes down as the accepted truth. Come to think of it, no one can match the resources of the world’s largest and the country’s richest political party – the BJP. Add to it, the RSS cadre and fringe groups such as Bajrang Dal.

Apart from the advertising blitzkrieg, the BJP has unleashed its PR machinery. Ministers with good communication skills such as Dr Jitendra Singh, convincing speakers like S Jaishankar, aggressive talkers such as Anurag Thakur, Smriti Irani and above all Nirmala Sitharaman are all at play now. They get the requited eyeballs and media attention and the resultant social media presence.

The Congress has managed to get some national media presence in the wake of its impressive performance in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections. But this gain turned out to be a temporary one as the inner party bickering over the Chief Ministership has taken its toll. Even those news channels which preferred to ignore Rahul’s Bharat Jodo, chose to pick the caste-religion-based politics (shall we say politricks?).

You cannot blame the media totally because the efforts or attempts for a credible, alternative to the BJP has thus far remained a non-starter.

The inauguration of the new Parliament could not be utilised for galvanising the opposition as five non-BJP parties attended the event while 20 (led by the Congress) boycotted it. While there was scepticism over Mamta Banerjee supporting the Congress, Sharad Pawar was busy trying to keep his flock together in the wake of the talk of his nephew Ajit Pawar’s reported attempts to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra with the help of BJP and by breaking the NCP. Senior Pawar's top priority was to avert defections or desertions of the type led by Eknath Shinde that demolished the Shiv Sena as we knew before June 2022. Sharad Pawar retired and then returned as the party chief apparently to derail Ajit’s plans to align with the BJP.

So, the vacuum created in the opposition unity was a god-sent opportunity for the BJP to launch its poll offensive and the government’s ad plus PR campaign fits into the game.

The government advertisements showcasing the achievements over the past nine years also sound like educational exercises on the official schemes. And the Ministers talk of the country’s progress since 2014 in their presentations.

PM Modi is scheduled to visit the US later this month and Rahul Gandhi has already landed there. Rahul’s criticism of the Modi government is not going to make much impact there, apart from getting some online media presence. There is no question of any US media following up on Rahul’s allegations as Modi is not going to address any Press Conference with Q&A sessions.

Meanwhile, Modi and his team will continue to run down the Congress.

Once bitten twice alert. The Karnataka poll drubbing has put the BJP on a high alert and the party would not like to take any chances in the upcoming Legislative Assembly elections to Chhattisgarh, MP, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana and then the Lok Sabha elections of 2014.

Telangana’s KCR and his party have already alleged that the BJP top guns have attempted in vain a Maharashtra type coup in the Telugu state. He is doubly alert to keep his rank and file together. In fact, The Telangana government has also launched a massive ad campaign with four front pages of a top media house publications, highlighting the State’s achievements after its formation 10 years ago. The Congress which was ditched by KCR has many issues to score here and no wonder Rahul Gandhi said ‘Telangana Next’. He has to attack two political enemies - BJP and BRS in Telangana now. Will he do a Telangana walk?

A confident Rahul has already declared from the US soil that the Congress will decimate the BJP in Telangana. Some analysts said he sounded overconfident after the Karnataka win. The advantage for Rahul and Co is that many of those who joined TRS were from the Congress itself. He has to cash in on the discontentment among them to win them back. As we have been pointing out, there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics, sorry politricks!

Rahul knows and spoke about what matters to the common voter most - food security, assured income, and roof over their head. Religion comes next, but caste overtakes it. The factional politics among the Hindus has clearly played a big role in Karnataka, followed by big caste and religion issues. Telangana is no different.

Corruption charges and scams that helped the BJP come to power nine years ago have boomeranged on it in Karnataka with the Contractors Association publicly speaking about “40 per cent corruption”.

But for now, Rahul is speaking about freedom of expression and crony capitalism. He has to find new communication strategy that appeals to the voters in different States and the country as a whole. The party high command has to learn to listen to the voices within the party – something it is not used to. Remember the Kapil Sibal revolt? Jyotiraditya Scindia walked out to join BJP and Sachin Pilot keeps raising the flag of revolt.

I am not a PK or his team mate to advise the Congress on its poll preparedness. My only point is that in the light of the shaky opposition alliance, the GOP has to strengthen its base to provide even a semblance of a credible alternative to the BJP. Success can go to one’s head and this is what Rahul should beware of. He has to learn politricks from Modi rather than getting down to personal attacks. Media and anti-BJP sections will provoke him to say things that suit headlines. From the school of politricks, we can safely confer the Master of Political Communication degree on Modi. Rahul has miles to go as a beginner.

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based independent media veteran, running websites and a YouTube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging)