The Uttarakhand unit of the Congress initiated its campaign for the coming Lok Sabha polls by inviting Party President Mallikarjun Kharge to address a public meet in Doon. His speech was aggressive, targeted primarily at Prime Minister Modi. An attempt was made to provide it a local touch by raising allegations of BJP’s bias against the Uttarakhandis. The campaign pitch was clear – the ‘crony capitalists’ are taking over, government jobs are being reduced, Agniveer betrayal, inflation, caste oppression, Prime Minister’s hubris, and so forth. This is in line with Rahul Gandhi’s approach during his yatras.
The question is – will it be effective, generally, and in Uttarakhand specifically? Is the local unit in a position even to select the right candidates for the coming contest, considering the number of embedded leaders who lead various factions and can’t see eye to eye on anything? It can be said with confidence that the over the hill satraps may not get the High Command’s nod, but will definitely scuttle the chances of the more youthful talented lot, who are presently doing much of the heavy lifting. This would be a waste of the committed Congress vote, even if it is on a diminishing curve.
There are issues that can be exploited, such as the growing divide on the domicile and land regulations by which large sections of the population in the plains are being sought to be denied equal rights. And, having already compromised on a number of demands for concessions to particular sections, how just would the proposed UCC of the government be? Apart from the questionable constitutionality of the entire process, is society in general prepared for the proposed changes? Very likely, it will be a cosmetic process targeted mostly at getting ‘Hindu’ votes. The challenge for the Congress would be to come up with concrete and easily understandable arguments to expose the concept. The present rants against Modi or capitalists, etc., impress no one. Hopefully, the special session summoned for enactment of the UCC law will be informative and vigorously debated. Even though, very likely, the Lok Sabha contest in the state may be totally one-sided, the Congress should put on a show that impresses.
Internally, too, the party must get its act together on the issue of identifying the best possible candidates. One good approach would be to reserve two of the five LS seats for women. It would certainly have an impact on galvanising the voters. But will they?
