Gujarat Assembly Elections: Where does Congress stand?

Gujarat, a BJP stronghold for the last 27 years, was a Congress bastion at one time

Ahead of the polls, India Today has colourfully described Gujarat as a "state of war", and considering the high stakes the assessment is not too far off. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home turf - and the western state that has often been called the "laboratory of Hindutva" - has been a BJP stronghold for the last 27 years but it used to be a Congress bastion at one time due to the likes of Mahatma Gandhi hailing from Gujarat.

However, currently, the grand old party seems to be conspicuously missing from the picture, with Arvind Kejriwal's AAP leading a far more aggressive campaign against the saffron party in their own backyard and even telling the public not to vote for Congress in the upcoming election. The Delhi chief minister urged people "not to waste their votes" and claimed that Congress was collapsing completely.

But, does absence equal inaction? Those within the Congress would disagree.

Read | A look at Narendra Modi's rise to power in Gujarat

Doing away with the usual fanfare that is seen ahead of the elections, the Congress has opted for a more low-key and direct approach, thus refusing to play in the field set by the BJP. President of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC), Amit Chavda, told The Quint that "the BJP has amassed massive wealth over the last 27 years. Unlike them, we do not have an extravagant budget to contest the elections. We saw it fit to not waste money on advertisements and instead chose to communicate directly with the voters."

Congress has decided to return to basics with booth-level management and door-to-door campaigns. The party's message on the ground is centred around two campaigns - 'Congress Nu Kaam Bole Che' (Congress's work speaks) and 'Congress ke 8 Vachan' (Congress's eight promises).

Hemang Raval, the party's media coordinator in Gujarat, explained, "We've been out of government in Gujarat for close to 27 years. Hence, it was important to tell the young and new voters about the work done by previous Congress governments, assuming they would not be aware of it."

The second campaign is a list of promises Rahul Gandhi made to voters of the state. These include a reduction in the price of gas cylinders, free electricity up to 300 units, free healthcare up to Rs 10 lakh, loan waivers for farmers, 3000 English-medium government schools, subsidy on milk products, government jobs, and unemployment allowance up to Rs 30,000 for the youth.

Raval continued, "So far, we've distributed over 1.5 crore pamphlets carrying these eight promises to people across the state", adding, "We are relying heavily on our network of cadre on ground."

Perhaps the biggest acknowledgement of their "silent campaign" comes from their most bitter rival - Modi himself. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, speaking to NDTV said that Modi too wants people to watch out for Congress's campaigning.

The grand old party is launching yatras in the state and plans to have its biggest names holding rallies and making their presence felt. Among the star campaigners for Congress in Gujarat is the party president Mallikarjun Kharge, the Gandhi troika of Rahul, Sonia, and Priyanka, Gehlot, and many more. Shashi Tharoor, Kharge's contender for the party president post, won't be campaigning after the star campaigner snub.

During the yatras, the party plans to cover around 5,432 km across 175 assembly seats. Congress plans to hold 145 public meetings and 95 rallies during this time. When contrasted with the lack of prominent faces campaigning ahead of the Himachal polls, with Priyanka doing most of the heavy lifting, it is clear that the party has diverted more focus to Gujarat.

Too little too late?

Despite Congress carrying on groundwork and ramping up their efforts ahead of the polling, it remains to be seen if their efforts come a little late in the day. BJP has already used their star power - namely Modi and Shah, to campaign in the state. The Prime Minister also inaugurated several infrastructure and development projects - as he has been doing in poll-bound states for some time now.

AAP's presence, though being dismissed by both Congress and BJP, is definitely bound to affect poll results - with most anticipating the new entrants to hurt the saffron party and sear India's oldest. The ABP CVoter survey shows AAP is likely to make a splash and clinch 20.2 per cent of the seats.

Survey projections for Gujarat Assembly Polls 2022. Credit: ABP-CVoter

Could Bharat Jodo Yatra have helped?

Much of Congress's focus has been on Rahul's Bharat Jodo Yatra, but members of the party insist that the walk has a more pan-Indian purpose than just the immediate elections. Thus, while many believed that Bharat Jodo Yatra should have started from Gujarat, or at least gone through it around polling, Sagar Shah, Youth Congress leader explained that the procession would have hindered election preparations in the state.

"If the yatra comes to Gujarat, a lot of our resources will be spent in managing the logistics of it. Our top leaders will have to join the yatra and they might not find time to focus on their own local campaigns", he explained.

Congress is a party in revival, having elected a new president, but they remain optimistic about Gujarat, despite what projections might show. AICC Gujarat in charge Raghu Sharma told India Today, "The result will surprise all and we will form a government. The hypothetical perception made by BJP/AAP will be broken and we will get 125-plus seats."

Elections in the state will be held in two phases, from December 1 to 5. Results will be declared on December 8.