From Naya Daur to Baahubali: How Congress changed its campaigning strategy in Madhya Pradesh
In every election till 2013, "yeh desh hai veer jawano ka", a popular song from the movie Naya Daur (1957) played in the background at almost every Congress rally.
The song never cut any ice with the newer voters and understandably so.
In the 2018 election campaign, the song was missing. Instead there were morphed videos from popular contemporary films like Baahubali that targeted the BJP.
The Congress seemed to have leapfrogged into present times from the distant past where it had been dwelling, choosing symbols that resonate with the new generation while designing its campaign.
It is too early to say that the Congress campaign has delivered, but whatever the outcome of the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh (MP), the Congress that was taking on a well-entrenched BJP in the state in power for 15 years has a message for it; the party still has it in itself to get its act together, if the leaders decide to.
How else was the Congress campaign in MP different from previous elections?
To begin with, it was run by PCC president Kamal Nath, a Lok Sabha MP from 1980, and a veteran of many electoral battles.
Nath infused a corporate style of functioning in the Congress office after he took over.
The offices looked better, and appointments were given and meant to be adhered to.
He recruited specialised agencies for specific jobs — there were agencies for surveys, for collecting data on caste compositions of constituencies and for social media.
A lot of detailing went into finalising tickets for each constituency.
This does not mean that the Congress will win every seat it has contested but every decision was backed by solid reasoning.
The Congress media team was active with former Mahila Congress President Shobha Oza being brought in early and made in charge.
There were daily press conferences being held to raise issues.
Top party spokespersons were stationed in Bhopal for the same job. This is the first election when the BJP found itself reacting to issues raised by the Congress.
Usually, it is the other way round.
After the Congress briefings began, the BJP too put in place a similar system.
A day before polling, letters addressed to voters by Kamal Nath and Rahul Gandhi began doing the rounds on social media, compelling Chief Minister (CM) Shivraj Singh Chouhan to also issue a similar letter.
Congress leaders displayed a rare unity; well at least to the extent it is possible in the Congress, in the run-up to the polls.
Talks of Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijaya Singh having heated arguments did the rounds when tickets were being finalised but both leaders put out tweets denying the same.
To ensure nobody stepped on each other’s toes, AICC gave each leader specific roles.
While Kamal Nath was to run the organisation, Scindia was tasked with canvassing, and former CM Digvijaya Singh was given a backroom role, to keep various factions of the Congress united.
Singh managed to prevail upon more than two dozen rebels and made them step down in favour of party candidates. The Congress leveraged social media in a big way, by putting out content both officially and unofficially.
Videos of Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s plush farm house in Vidisha, shot with a drone camera, started doing the rounds a few days before polling, as did a number of fake audio recordings of conversations between BJP leaders.
In the world of WhatsApp, there is little application of mind by recipients to verify the truth. BJP gained from it before 2014, the Congress seems to have done so in 2018.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)