Sunday, Jan 12, 2003
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By Javed M. Ansari
There is a feeling among partymen, articulated in full measure at the Congress Working Committee meeting on January 5 that the party had erred, both in the strategy and tactics, adopted during the Gujarat election. The initial reaction was that the party's efforts were undone by the unbridled Hindutva campaign by the BJP and its affiliates. However, that was not the only reason for the debacle. On a sober reflection, and after analysing various inputs, a view is that mistakes were made. Senior leaders put the blame on the soft Hindutva tactics, the inability of the party to counter the deep inroads made amongst tribals by the Sangh Parivar, and reservations about Shankersinh Waghela within the ranks. The party, however, does acknowledge the role played of the "Godhra factor.'' The fact is that within a 100 km radius of the riot-affected areas, the party failed to win anything, but it would be wrong to attribute the results to that alone. Keeping in mind the importance of the electoral battle in Himachal Pradesh, the leadership is keen on ensuring that the focus of the campaign is on the party's core values and that there is no dilution even for tactical reasons.The party will highlight to corruption charges against the Dhumal Government, the "anti-people and anti-government" employees policy of the State Government. A dominant feeling in the party is that the organisation should present itself before the electorate as an alternative to the BJP and not just a substitute. "We must make people choose between two different streams,'' a senior leader said. The Congress is trying to undo the impression in certain quarters that it had been reluctant to take categorical stand on issues such as nationalism and hindutva.
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