April 4: Pitching strongly for its revival in Bihar by going alone in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state due in September-October this year, the Congress is working on a two-pronged strategy to counter both the ruling NDA and the RJD-LJP combine.
Inspired by the functioning of AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, the party has made a scientifically-graded profile of each of the 243 constituencies in the state, and decided to select election candidates based on these projections. Second, as part of its campaign strategy, the party has also decided to directly target chief minister Nitish Kumar by playing the minority card against him.
“The state unit has been instructed to dish out photographs in which Mr Kumar is seen publicly holding hands with senior BJP leader L.K. Advani and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who was recently grilled by the Supreme Court-appointed SIT in connection with a post-Godhra riot case... We are going to show the photographs and will question the chief minister’s secular credentials,” said a senior party leader who is associated with Bihar affairs.
The recent deposition before a trial court in Uttar Pradesh in connection with the Babri Masjid demolition by senior police officer Anju Gupta against Mr Advani has once gain brought to the fore the senior leader’s role on the fateful day in December 1992. The Congress believes that reminding the state’s Muslim voters about “Mr Nitish Kumar’s real position on the issue of secularism” will help the party win their support. Muslims comprise approximately 15 per cent of Bihar’s population, and their votes can influence the result of around 150 of the state’s 243 Assembly seats.
In the run-up to preparations for the polls, the party has conducted surveys of caste demographics and background checks on potential candidates, besides studying the electoral history of each constituency. All this has been done to draw up a comprehensive plan to take on the two alliances, the party leader said.
The Congress, to improve its performance from its present strength of 11 in the Assembly, has decided to first target 122 seats, which is the halfway mark. In the last election, the party had finished second in 27 seats, and its hopes to consolidate there further. The party will also concentrate on 17 seats won by Independents and 30 others where Independents were the runners-up.
Mukesh Ranjan
New Delhi