Congress to focus on local issues in Assam after Bihar vote chori debacle

After its much-vaunted 'Vote Chori' campaign to expose the Narendra Modi government's alleged theft of ballots came a cropper in the Bihar Assembly elections last November, the Congress is aiming to bounce back in the next set of state polls.

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And this time, for example, in Assam, the Grand Old Party is seeking to capitalise on local issues to topple the BJP from power, something it failed to do in Bihar despite the vote chori crusade spearheaded by Rahul Gandhi and projected more as a national issue.

Congress's mega rally

As part of its election strategies in Assam, the only of the four poll-bound states where the party is in a direct fight for power with the arch-rival BJP, the Congress on Thursday (February 5) launched a mega fortnight-long ‘Samay Parivartan-Jati Bachao, Mati Bachao’ (Time for Change – save community, save land) rally from Ganeshguri area of Guwahati to mobilise grassroots support ahead of the polls.

It may be recalled the state's ruling BJP also began its “Booth Vijay Abhiyan” rally led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Starting from Manabendra Bhavan in Ganhesguri, the rally passed through Guwatai’s famous Ma Kamakhya Temple and concluded at Zubeen Ksehtra, the memorial of Zubeen Garg, a legendary singer and composer and considered a cultural icon from the northeast who passed away last year in Singapore, in Sonapur on the city’s outskirts.

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As the party cadres and supporters followed their leaders in the rally, the Congress made clear its intention of taking on the state’s BJP government, headed by Chief Minister Sarma, over alleged corruption and focus on Zubeen’s mysterious death in this year’s polls. On Thursday, the party even held a meeting at the late singer’s memorial space.

Rahul, Priyanka to join rally

The inaugural leg of the rally will continue till Monday (February 9) followed by a two-day break. It will resume on February 12 and last till February 15. This phase is expected to be a high-profile one as Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, who the party has given a special role for the Assam elections, are likely to join.

The third leg will be held for five days and is expected to cover most districts of the poll-bound state. Rahul, Priyanka and other senior party leaders will join this phase as well, although the dates have not been finalised.

Party insiders suggested that the MP siblings may head to Assam after the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament gets adjourned for a recess on February 13. The entire rally will be held in a hybrid mode, including bus travel, foot marches, street corner meetings and public rallies.

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Has the party made a deliberate change of its strategy, from national to local, for the Assam polls? A senior leader conceded that it indeed has. He said after hectic deliberation, the party has decided that it would contest the Assembly elections based on local issues.

Local voters connect

The leader added that the Congress has not given up on issues such as “vote chori”, but the priority remains on capitalising on issues that resonate with the local public. The party also believes that its state chief, Gaurav Gogoi, who is also the deputy leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, offers an advantage over Himanta with a “clean image” vis-à-vis the latter’s “corrupt image”.

Talking to The Federal, senior Congress leader and the party’s in-charge for Assam, Jitendra Singh, said that the state has been “usurped” by Himanta, who is "selling" it to industrialists, including the “Adani, Ambani and Patanjali groups”.

Also read: Assam polls: Congress plans grassroots mobilisation to strengthen support

“Forty thousand bighas of land have been sold by Himanta Biswa Sarma. He has got 12,000 bighas of land for his family and wife. This whole land is in tribal areas. His school, Vandya International School, is in the middle of a forest. How can you build the school in a reserved forest? It is a jungle. We went there and held a protest,” Singh said. The Congress staged a protest on Thursday outside the school in Amingaon in North Guwahati, which is owned by the wife of the CM, Singh added.

Congress eyes change

Singh further said the party wants to build a “Naya Assam” (new Assam). “There has to be a "parivartan" (change). It is of course a change for the government. Why? Because of corruption, he (Sarma) has sold off the entire state. What he (Sarma) has also done is that he has divided people,” he said.

The Congress’s ‘back-to-the-grassroots’ strategy to counter the BJP, which is looking to its third consecutive term in the state that once the former party dominated, was inspired recently when some of its members travelled across the state to gather inputs for the election manifesto, whereby they spoke to people on the ground.

The leaders included, besides Gaurav, the state’s Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia and state MP Pradyut Bordoloi, among others.