BOUYED BY RECENT POLL WINS, CONGRESS FEELS YOUTH POWER WILL BRING VICTORY
The Great Sansad Marathon
With Parliamentary elections drawing near, Congress is high on youth power, while its archrival BJP is yet to recover from its assembly poll disaster. TSI’s Pramod Kumar presents a round-up of what’s happening within the political circles

Everyone at the BJP camp is in a daze. The reason: results of an internal survey, commissioned last month by the party in collaboration with RSS to weigh its chances in the upcoming Parliamentary polls, gave BJP something between 96 and 106 seats. Now, that is even less than the 113 seats BJP got last time.

On the other hand, Congress is confident that 25 seats in Uttar Pradesh with her ally Samajwadi Party is all it needs to clear the road for UPA’s return to the Centre. That is precisely why it is willing to portray Rahul Gandhi as LK Advani’s equivalent. Also, notwithstanding recurrent antics by SP, Congress has fixed its eyes on young emerging leaders for striking alliances – from Stalin in Tamil Nadu to Chiranjeevi in Andhra Pradesh.

As far as Left parties are concerned, they believe the scene of the 15th Lok Sabha will be worse than the incumbent one, and that the say and sway of regional parties in the functioning of the government will only increase. Left parties are sure that the possibility of a BJP or Congress-led government is dismal. There are realistic chances for a secular parties-led government. In fact, central committees of the Left parties have already started discussing the options. Unperturbed by this, Sangh ideologue and BJP-thrown out, Govindacharya is also mulling over a third alternative stitched up of “like-minded parties”.

Though Congress was nervous and jittery on the eve of assembly elections, its results injected a new lease of life in the grand old party. Now, the party has carefully started projecting itself as the party of the youth. The Rahul Gandhi led “Opportunities Amidst Challenges” committee maintains that targeting the under-40 voters, who constitute around 36 per cent of the electorate, will greatly enhance Congress’ prospects in the elections. The government has approved a Rs 102 crore budget for Bharat Nirman. The party has hired as many as eight advertising agencies for a sleek publicity campaign – similar to that of BJP’s India Shining – for the parliamentary polls that will laud the work done by the government.

Going by the turnout of young voters in the Assembly polls, Congress’ first priority is to field a large number of young candidates with clean images. The second, of course, is Uttar Pradesh. Then come Punjab, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka, in that order. UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi informed TSI that the party has zeroed in on 18 seats in Uttar Pradesh where it is willing to field young candidates. And that is why the party is demanding 28 seats from Samajwadi Party, which is not willing to part with more than 12 . “If we fail to reach a conclusion, we’ll field our candidates in all 80 seats in the state,” Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, also in-charge of improving the party’s brand image, told TSI. As far as BSP is concerned, Congress leaders from the state maintain that BSP can’t beat them in the numbers game. A section of the Congress is unwilling to strike an alliance with RJD or LJP in Bihar and wants to field as many as 400 candidates at the national level. In fact, the party has decided to give Rs 8 to 10 lakh to every candidate fighting on the party symbol. Party secretary Tom Wadakkan told TSI that Congress will call its AICC session shortly where it will decide the party policy in general and the criterion for selection of candidates in particular.

Meanwhile, though the BJP has set February as the date to shift to election mode, the mood in the party is jittery because of its poll debacles in Rajasthan and Delhi. Its trump cards in arsenal – terrorism and inflation – have failed to incite interest in potential voters. If that was not enough, the internal survey has increased the nervousness. And the Bhairon Singh Shekhawat fiasco could not have come at a worse time. No wonder, Advani is finding the land beneath his feet slipping. It is also envious that while hordes of politicians, such as Raj Babbar and Salim Sherwani, are seeking tickets from Congress after dumping their parent parties, no one has come knocking on BJP’s door.

The BJP has decided the seats of all its top politicians and it is understood that barring a few, the party is willing to field almost all the sitting MPs. It is also looking for a rapproachment with parent body RSS, estranged since 2004, for vital logistical support. The party is banking on Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Gujarat, expecting a repeat of the assembly polls success. It is also banking on the popularity of its allies in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Bihar. “Price-rise will be our trump card. It will sink Congress,” BJP spokesperson Ravishanker Prasad told TSI. He also insisted that the Shekhawat fiasco will not affect the party’s chances.

Among the regional parties, SP is sure it will improve its tally in UP, with or without Congress, as the disenchantment with BSP has peaked after the murder of PWD engineer Manoj Gupta, and this ire will be a winning factor. Also, it will more likely strike a deal with Ajit Singh rather than Congress. However, general secretary Amar Singh told TSI, “We will definitely like to strike an alliance with the Congress in the state. I have reason to believe that even the Gandhi family is in its favour. However, some people close to the family are against it and are slowing down the process.” Besides, there are other options open.

Two rounds of talks have taken place between TDP supreme Chandrababu Naidu, Mulayam Singh and CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, regarding a third front. Talking to TSI, CPM leader Sita Ram Yechury said, “We are in talks with all secular parties. The scene in the Parliament will change this time. We are gearing up to fill the gap.”