Congress president Rahul Gandhi wrapped up his Karnataka campaign with a press conference “where he talked about doing things differently” to retain power in what is arguably the most important State the party currently rules.
“They are in panic because now they are noticing and realising that the Congress party is doing things differently. The Congress party showed them what it is capable of in Gujarat and now the Congress has clearly demonstrated to them what it is capable of in Karnataka,” Mr. Gandhi told a press briefing.
Touching every region
Like in Gujarat, the Congress chief did nine rounds of the Jan Ashirward Yatra in the past four months and travelled to every district of Karnataka, covering more than 60% of the 224 Assembly seats. And the template was the same: short two-three trips packed with roadshows, interaction with citizens and very visible visits to places of worship apart from public meetings.
Like in Gujarat, where the Congress wooed the BJP’s Patel vote bank, the party played the caste card by recognising the dominant Lingayat caste — traditional BJP supporters — as a separate minority group and projected the BJP as an anti-Dalit party by highlighting alleged “rise” in violence against Dalits and the amendment of the SC/ST Act. In Karnataka, 36 out of 224 seats are reserved seats and Dalits are believed to be one of the largest groups..
Mr. Gandhi also stressed on preserving the pride of Kannada culture by trying to depict the BJP as a party that believed in a one-nation-one-culture philosophy.
Emotional connect
Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi campaigned in an Assembly election after a gap of two years. And the idea was to emotionally connect with the voters since she had made her Lok Sabha debut in 1999 by winning simultaneously from Bellary in Karnataka and Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress has been very aggressive in its media campaign, mainstream as well as social media. The party fielded as many as 72 leaders covering places such as Hubballi, Mysuru, Udupi, Mangaluru and Bengaluru. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too had a media interaction in the State capital. Mr. Gandhi and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah were equally aggressive on social media countering Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.
A senior Congress leader said,“When the BJP raised the fake voter ID card issue at an 11 p.m. press conference, we countered with facts by holding a midnight press conference. Irrespective of the outcome, if the BJP has acquired a reputation of being an election machine, we have been able to match them at every step here.”
