Is Rahul Gandhi a loser?
If, by next election he is gets enough Dalits, Muslims to add another 5% to Congress’s share, success will be at hand.
Rahul Gandhi has spent the last five years trying to revive the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh, a giant state of 200 million people.
He has done this in two ways. He has tried to revive the party’s organisation and tried to bring back some communities which were traditionally Congress voters, but not any longer.
The first was done through internal democracy, by holding elections inside the party. It was also done by focusing on the Youth Congress.
The second was done in two ways. First, Rahul Gandhi started to attach himself to the Dalit (untouchable) community, by insisting on spending the night in their homes and eating with them. On one such visit to Uttar Pradesh in January 2009, he took along the then foreign secretary of the UK, David Miliband. Both men slept in a Dalit’s hut that night. He has been doing this so consistently that it no longer makes national news, but the Dalits are certain to have noticed.
The second thing he did was to offer underprivileged Muslims (from the peasantry), a share of the reservations constitutionally given to Hindu peasant castes. These reservations are for government jobs. There is debate among the upper caste Muslims whether this should be accepted, and there is also opposition from the Hindu peasants. The former views the reservations as a division of Muslim identity. They are uncomfortable with the idea that Muslims can be separated by caste. The latter are, of course, opposed because they are currently the only beneficiaries.
Results for Uttar Pradesh’s elections were announced last week. As they came in, some analysts like Shekhar Gupta blamed the Congress promise on reservations to socio-economically backward Muslims for the BJP’s strong initial showing. Then it turned out that they were wrong and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in fact, got fewer votes than they did five years ago.
The Congress got more votes than last time –– about 15 per cent of the total this time, compared to about 10 per cent last time. This time’s share included votes to an allied party of the Hindu peasants.
Though he managed to increase vote share, Rahul Gandhi was able to deliver only a handful of more seats. Since he had campaigned very heavily in the state, he is thought to have lost face here. Is he a loser?
I would say that he has been judged too soon. The fact is that in both 2009’s general elections and this year’s state election, the Congress has been adding voters. It has not been able to do this fast enough to satisfy the media, but a trend is visible. If it continues, the Congress may be able to challenge UP’s two big parties. Of these, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party has a core of Dalit voters. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party counts on votes from the Yadav peasant community and from Muslims. For the last two elections, these parties got between 25 per cent and 30 per cent of the total votes. Rahul Gandhi’s UP strategy directly attacks these two parties. If, by the next election, he is able to soften enough Dalits and Muslims to add another five per cent to the Congress’s vote share, success will be at hand.
The fourth party in the state is the BJP. Its upper-caste Hindu vote bank is secure, but stuck at 15 per cent. Except for the Congress, no party has the flexibility to take on voters from the other parties. Yadavs and Dalits are firmly in opposite camps. Muslims will not vote for BJP and Mayawati said that the reason for its narrow loss this time (the difference was four per cent of votes cast) was because 70 per cent of Muslims voted with the Yadavs. The Congress has no such problem in absorbing castes or faiths because it is an inclusive party. Both upper and lower castes can exist in it.
It would appear that Rahul Gandhi’s approach in UP has been thought through. Certainly, it is logically sound. It is also working, even if very incrementally. If he continues with it, and he says he will, Rahul Gandhi could be seen very differently by the next election.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2012.
He has done this in two ways. He has tried to revive the party’s organisation and tried to bring back some communities which were traditionally Congress voters, but not any longer.
The first was done through internal democracy, by holding elections inside the party. It was also done by focusing on the Youth Congress.
The second was done in two ways. First, Rahul Gandhi started to attach himself to the Dalit (untouchable) community, by insisting on spending the night in their homes and eating with them. On one such visit to Uttar Pradesh in January 2009, he took along the then foreign secretary of the UK, David Miliband. Both men slept in a Dalit’s hut that night. He has been doing this so consistently that it no longer makes national news, but the Dalits are certain to have noticed.
The second thing he did was to offer underprivileged Muslims (from the peasantry), a share of the reservations constitutionally given to Hindu peasant castes. These reservations are for government jobs. There is debate among the upper caste Muslims whether this should be accepted, and there is also opposition from the Hindu peasants. The former views the reservations as a division of Muslim identity. They are uncomfortable with the idea that Muslims can be separated by caste. The latter are, of course, opposed because they are currently the only beneficiaries.
Results for Uttar Pradesh’s elections were announced last week. As they came in, some analysts like Shekhar Gupta blamed the Congress promise on reservations to socio-economically backward Muslims for the BJP’s strong initial showing. Then it turned out that they were wrong and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in fact, got fewer votes than they did five years ago.
The Congress got more votes than last time –– about 15 per cent of the total this time, compared to about 10 per cent last time. This time’s share included votes to an allied party of the Hindu peasants.
Though he managed to increase vote share, Rahul Gandhi was able to deliver only a handful of more seats. Since he had campaigned very heavily in the state, he is thought to have lost face here. Is he a loser?
I would say that he has been judged too soon. The fact is that in both 2009’s general elections and this year’s state election, the Congress has been adding voters. It has not been able to do this fast enough to satisfy the media, but a trend is visible. If it continues, the Congress may be able to challenge UP’s two big parties. Of these, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party has a core of Dalit voters. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party counts on votes from the Yadav peasant community and from Muslims. For the last two elections, these parties got between 25 per cent and 30 per cent of the total votes. Rahul Gandhi’s UP strategy directly attacks these two parties. If, by the next election, he is able to soften enough Dalits and Muslims to add another five per cent to the Congress’s vote share, success will be at hand.
The fourth party in the state is the BJP. Its upper-caste Hindu vote bank is secure, but stuck at 15 per cent. Except for the Congress, no party has the flexibility to take on voters from the other parties. Yadavs and Dalits are firmly in opposite camps. Muslims will not vote for BJP and Mayawati said that the reason for its narrow loss this time (the difference was four per cent of votes cast) was because 70 per cent of Muslims voted with the Yadavs. The Congress has no such problem in absorbing castes or faiths because it is an inclusive party. Both upper and lower castes can exist in it.
It would appear that Rahul Gandhi’s approach in UP has been thought through. Certainly, it is logically sound. It is also working, even if very incrementally. If he continues with it, and he says he will, Rahul Gandhi could be seen very differently by the next election.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2012.