Congress: Prashant Kishor as Strategist can Bring Change
Asia News Agency
Recalling the glory of the Congress and late Indira Gandhi, Vir Sanghvi (print and television journalist, author, and talk show host) writes “it is hard not to cast Narendra Modi in the Indira Gandhi role and the Congress in the part that used to be played by her opponents.” The Congress narrative for example now is: “Narendra Modi is evil. We must get rid of him.”
It is forgotten “how much of a departure this is for the Congress, which, throughout its history, never ever framed the narrative in terms of opposing a single individual. Smart political operators know what Indira Gandhi recognised: if your entire appeal is about the removal of one individual, then you had better be ready with an alternative to put in his or her place. The opposition never had anybody of Indira Gandhi’s stature and so, the more it attacked her, the bigger she seemed.
“Something similar has happened with the Congress and Prime Minister Modi. Every time the attack is framed in personal terms, voters ask: okay, if we do get rid of him, then who do you suggest we put in his place? Each time, the Congress gives the same answer: Rahul Gandhi. And each time, the voters shake their heads and vote for Narendra Modi anyway.”
Therefore, while “Rahul Gandhi’s Congress has no compelling narrative and alternative to Narendra Modi. And so, election after election, it goes down to humiliating defeats. And Modi gets stronger.”
Sonia Gandhi back on centre stage
Over the last month, however, writes Singhvi “and after the last round of electoral humiliations, we finally have some signs that the Congress has decided that it has been humiliated enough. It needs to do something different.
“One sign of the new resolve has been the return of Sonia Gandhi to the centre stage. She is more visible now than she has been for some years: speaking in Parliament, issuing statements, writing articles and holding meetings with her party men and with leaders from other parties.
“This is not good news for the BJP,” for unlike Rahul, it is “much more difficult to caricature,” Sonia. “She brought her party to power in two elections and continues to defy the Modi wave; she won her Lok Sabha seat in Rai Bareli when nearly everybody else lost. All the old negative characterisations — foreigner, dilettante, dynast, etc. — have been tried and they have failed. If Sonia becomes the face of the Congress party and puts many experienced leaders on its front bench, then all that stuff about ‘pappu’ (Rahul’s small boy caricature image) and his entitled pals will lose its power.”
The importance of Prashant Kishor
Singhvi however, is not sure if that will happen. “However, we can guess her strategy from her first few moves. She has tried to create an opposition consensus, focusing on fighting communal hatred — the one issue that unites nearly every non-BJP party (though perhaps not Aam Aadmi Party, judging by its refusal to join in); she is talking about alliances, and has reached out to Prashant Kishor,” who has came back to be its strategist.
There are serious objections to Kishore within the Congress because they fear he will reorder the hierarchy and threaten their positions.
“Judging by what he has been telling interviewers, his ideas seem sound and sensible. Some are simply commonsensical. And yes, the Congress must create its own narrative. The problem is that in this avatar of the Congress, there has been nobody willing to implement even those things that seem commonsensical or self-evident. The induction of Kishor could change that.”
And “if the Congress is hesitant about listening to Prashant Kishor, it can just go back to the lessons that the party learned from Rahul’s grandmother. Love her or hate her, Indira Gandhi knew a thing or two about politics.”
