- Rahul and Priyanka will participate in Congress’ Jan Akrosh Yatras
- Priyanka will hold meetings and road shows at 44 places during elections
Milind Muzumdar, Indore
Congress is focusing on the strategy of running the election campaign by putting Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi upfront in order to woo young and women voters. Priyanka Gandhi will be especially brought forward because Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s Laadli Behna Yojana is making waves in Madhya Pradesh. Priyanka Gandhi will counter Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s popularity among women.
Kamal Nath had made many populist announcements in the state on the lines of Karnataka and Rajasthan, but they are not having much impact. The reason for this is that Kamal Nath lives in Bhopal most of the time and on the other hand, claimants are continuously claiming for the Congress tickets. For this reason less work is being done in the field. According to sources, Congress will use Priyanka Gandhi the most in the election campaign. Plans are being made to organize 44 meetings and road shows of Priyanka Gandhi. Randeep Surjewala is working on an action plan to run an all-round campaign in Madhya Pradesh on the lines of Karnataka. Sources say that Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi can also be present at major centers of different areas during Congress’s Jan Akrosh Yatra. These two superstar campaigners will be included in the Jan Akrosh Yatras of tribal areas especially.
Maximum focus on tribal areas
Congress is going to keep its maximum focus on tribal areas in the state. Rahul Gandhi will visit tribal areas in September and October. Their meetings will be organized in such a way that it can have an impact on as many assembly seats as possible. The special thing is that both Congress and BJP parties are calling workers and leaders from Gujarat and Jharkhand for booth management in tribal areas. BJP is also getting the benefit of the tribal cell of His Excellency Governor Mangu Bhai Patel. In Gujarat, BJP had achieved unilateral success in tribal seats. This time the party will give the responsibility of tribal seats of Malwa Nimar region to the leaders of Gujarat and the responsibility of tribals of Vindhya, Baghelkhand and Mahakaushal region to the tribal leaders of Jharkhand. Congress is also going to appoint tribal leaders in Madhya Pradesh.
Opposition parties are fighting separately in the assembly elections Aam Aadmi Party has just released the list of its 20 candidates. Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party are also continuously declaring their candidates. Meanwhile, JAYS is preparing to contest elections on 80 seats. It has an alliance with Bhim Army. Kamal Nath’s biggest concern is about JAYS and its alliance. Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti Sangathan i.e. JAYS and Aam Aadmi Party are going to increase the tension of Congress in Madhya Pradesh. Aam Aadmi Party, which won 5 seats in Gujarat Assembly elections and got 13 percent votes, is going to increase its focus in Madhya Pradesh. On the other hand, JAYS is preparing to form a front with Muslim, OBC and Dalit parties. This front will contest on at least 85 assembly seats. Of these, 47 will be reserved seats for tribals and 35 for Dalits. Aam Aadmi Party has obtained 7 percent votes in urban body elections in Madhya Pradesh. If it gets the same number of votes in the 2023 assembly elections, then it will be a direct loss to the Congress. The division of anti-government votes may benefit the BJP in 2023 like Gujarat.
JAYS’s presence in tribal seats is harmful for Congress
This time, if JAYS contests independent elections, Congress will have to bear the direct loss. The presence of JAYS, especially in tribal seats, can prove harmful for Congress. Congressmen also believe that the 2023 assembly elections are going to prove to be do or die for the party. Digvijay Singh himself has said many times that if this time Congress does not come together and come to power, then this state will go out of the hands of Congress forever. Just last month, JAYS held a big meeting in Bhopal in the presence of Dr. Hiralal Alava, in which 10 small groups participated. Dalit leader and former MP Dr Buddhasen Patel was also present in this meeting. Apart from this, Dr. Hiralal wants to form a front of Dalits, tribals and backward classes in which Muslim organizations will also be included. MP Owaisi’s party was also present in JAYS ‘s meeting. Any such front will cause tremendous damage to Kamal Nath’s strategy. It remains to be seen how Kamal Nath deals with this front.
