Another big battle for Gujarat is around the corner. In about four months’ time from now, the state, firmly in the grips of Narendra Modi for over six years, will go in for fresh assembly elections. Will it again be a Modi rule over Gujarat? The state BJP, divided along pro-and-anti-Modi lines, is not so sure if Modi would lead the party to its fourth straight assembly election victory in the November-December polls.

For the opposition Congress, not winning an assembly election in the state since 1990, the ensuing election has assumed a now or never challenge. The actual battle may be months away; but the party leadership has already drawn up a detailed battle strategy that lays emphasis on fully mobilising and deploying the firepower it has at its command and drawing strength from the weaknesses of the enemy camp.

The party is using all weapons in its armour to “demystify” the successive BJP poll victories under Modi and has even launched a political programme to nourish, embolden and enthuse the Congress workers “psychologically”.

In the world of sport, it is now common to hire the services of psychologists on a full-time basis to improve the mental makeup of players. We have witnessed this in Indian cricket. But rarely has this happened with our political parties. The Congress leadership has found it necessary to have a psychologist to advise it on Gujarat poll preparations. Sanjay Patel, a qualified psychologist, has already been working with the Gujarat Congress for the last six months.

Patel’s job is to mentally prepare Gujarat’s largely demoralised party rank and file for the big battle. He has been
travelling across the length and breadth of the state, trying to correct psychological aspect of the battle preparations, “boosting the confidence and morale of the party cadre”, said one leader who is involved in these exercises. “The idea is to remove from their minds the fear of failure and instill in them a feeling that the party can and will win,” the leader said. Himself  a Patel, the psychologist has been communicating well with the politically weighty Patel community, a large section of which is draggers-drawn with Modi.

The Congress voters and supporters are being assured of the party’s victory with a logic that in 2004 polls BJP was ahead of the Congress only in two legislative segments and it had not clinched a decisive victory but only exploited weakness of its opponents in the state.

While the “psychic wheel” is seemingly turning in favour of the Congress party with the psychologist weeding out elements of “self-doubt” among the cadre, the electoral battle strategy against Modi is being consolidated by enlisting “active services” of disgruntled BJP leaders and rebels. And the twin task, as of now, has apparently paid dividends to the Congress.

The Congress has tried to break the BJP from within by “befriending” anti-Modi BJP leaders and saffron rebels to sabotage Modi’s ambitions to repeat his 2002 electoral success. “The damage Modi campaign” has shaped up well in the last six months and showing results,” well-placed sources said outlining the framework of “the oust-Modi strategy” of the Congress party.

The Congress’ attack on Modi is being carried out from three flanks by his own party leaders- Kashi Ram Rana in Surat, Keshubhai Patel in Saurashtra and Sureshbhai Mehta in Kutch region. The plan of the Congress leadership is also on deploying the services of three other suspended BJP leaders like Nalin Bhat, Dhirubhai Gajera and Gordhan Jhadaphia.

To undercut the hard-core Hindutva plank of Modi supporters, a parallel Hindutva outfit is being planned by the rebel BJP leaders in tandem with the Congress campaign managers.

“A fake Hindutva party would be floated in the state during the poll by Nalin Bhat and others to sap BJP’s Hindu vote bank in the Modi strongholds,” sources told Deccan Herald indicating that about 50 to 70 BJP rebels would confront the official saffron candidates “with full funding” from the Congress party. “It is expected that the list of rebels would increase sharply as soon as the ticket distribution process begins,” they said.

Bharatsinh Solanki, Gujarat PCC President and Lok Sabha member from Anand, has already visited a large part of Gujarat at block levels along with the psychologist to “recharge” the Congress workers with “hope of success” ahead of the November-December assembly election. The success of the politico-psychic campaign against the Modi government is reflected in the recent “the super hit rallies” of Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Porbandar, Banas Kantha and South Gujarat.

With an internal survey of the saffron party showing the task to be difficult and at best Modi managing to “scrape through” the ballot war, the Congress is happy with an early “psychological edge” in the run up to the Gujarat poll. The Congress trusts that this time round it may firmly put the Modi genie back in the bottle.