New Delhi: With a non-Gandhi now at the helm of the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are re-evaluating their line of attack against the opposition party.
With Rahul Gandhi running the party – as the de facto or legal head – the ruling party may downplay him as a privileged clan away from the day-to-day problems of the common people, and tease him as “Pappu”. can. No leadership qualities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders used to taunt the “family” that runs the Congress, which tries to contrast how common workers can reach the top spot in the BJP.
Now that Mallikarjun Kharge is Congress PresidentThePrint told several BJP leaders that as they were redrawing their strategy, one thing was clear – that they would continue to target the Gandhi family.
Kharge was elected Congress President on Wednesday. When party leader Pramod Tiwari announced the results in Delhi, he defeated Shashi Tharoor’s 1,072 votes by 7,897. The senior Karnataka politician is only the third Dalit to lead the 137-year-old party.
BJP’s national spokesperson RP Singh said, “Nothing is going to change for the Congress. Now we will have one dynasty and one subject. Whatever the Gandhi family tells Kharge to do, he will simply oblige. Also, let’s not forget what happened during the tenure of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, when files were sent for approval at 10 Janpath (Sonia Gandhi’s Delhi residence). So in reality nothing is going to change. He will be nothing but the remotely controlled President.
Read also: Kharge, Tharoor won’t mind, definition of Congress politician should be changed
The ‘remote-controlled’ narrative
The BJP is going to focus largely on the “remote-controlled” narrative by drawing parallels with former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s tenure.
Amit Malviya, in-charge of BJP’s National Information and Technology Department and co-in-charge of West Bengal, said, “Even today Rahul Gandhi is just an MP, but the way the entire party has regained its weight. he and his india couple travel You should tell that he will continue to enjoy prominence in the party.”
“At the same time, by appointing an elder, Kharge – which is not exactly a persuasive alternative to a Congress that needs fresh blood and new thinking – it is a status quo system that serves Gandhi alone. He is one of them. The whole process started with Ashok Gehlot moving to Digvijay Singh and finally settling for Kharge,” he said.
“The whole election is a farce because the Gandhi family will elect their chosen candidate, and it is anything but Shashi Tharoor also maintained. They have complained about not being given a level playing field. In fact, he told how the state Congress committee presidents did not cooperate with him but were respectful to Kharge,” he added.
“Also, it should not be forgotten how, during Manmohan Singh’s tenure as Prime Minister, all calls were made by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. If the Gandhi family can violate the office of Manmohan Singh – who took the oath of secrecy to the country’s highest political office – Kharge will be only Congress president,” Malviya said.
Focus on Gandhi family, beware of Kharge’s Dalit identity
However, a section of the BJP argued that their entire focus, especially during elections, would be to ‘target’ the Gandhi family, particularly Rahul Gandhi – who also resonated with the public, he claimed – They may have to re-examine their strategy. Little, given Kharge’s Dalit identity.
“By electing Kharge, the Congress has created a Dalit face. And given the reach of the BJP – especially the Prime Minister – to the SC/ST community, ridiculing them or calling them ‘remote-controlled’ can at times backfire. So party leaders and spokespersons, especially on news debates, have to choose their words carefully,” said a senior BJP leader.
While another leader said the focus would remain on the Gandhi family through a “remote-controlled” president, some new strategies would have to be developed to ensure that the public “understands” it more clearly.
BJP national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan said, “I think the face of the Congress party is someone from the Gandhi family. This is more or less obvious, and in the past also we have seen how a non-Gandhi president of the Congress party has been treated.”
“We still remember how the famous leader – a much respected leader of the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) of Bihar – Shri Sitaram Kesri was insulted in front of the entire leadership of the Congress party. How this was an insult not only to Sitaram Kesari but to the entire EBC population across the country. This shows the feudal and elitist mindset of the Congress party.”
“We do not see any fundamental change in the Congress party as the pivot or decision-making will rest with the family first. That’s why we are going to attack the Congress on issues that pertain to the people of India as well as the problems within the party,” Paswan said.
(Edited by Anumeha Saxena)