A Leaf Out Of The BJP Book

The Congress plans to beat the incumbent party at its own game by borrowing its electoral strategy under state in-charge Kamal Nath

- Rahul Noronha

NESTLED IN THE SHADOW OF the Kaimur range, the temple town of Maihar in Satna district was an interesting choice of venue for Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath to kick off the party’s campaign on August 1 for the assembly elections in November. It was from here that Nath had begun his campaign in 1998, when the Congress won against all odds. Recalling the time, Nath, after a darshan at the Sharda Mata temple, told a public meeting, “Sharda Mata had blessed the Congress with victory in 1998 when I began my campaign from Maihar. The Congress will win this election too.”

The nine-term Lok Sabha MP will need all the political acumen he has accumulated over the years to take on the well-entrenched BJP—in power for almost 15 years in the state. And what better way to do so than trying to beat the adversary at their own game? On September 2, a day before Janmashtami, addressing a public meeting in Ganj Basoda village in Vidisha district, Nath promised that his party would set up a gaushala in every village panchayat (of which the state has about 2,300), if the Congress were voted to power. “The BJP talks about protecting cows,” he said, “but does nothing. Cows are dying on the roads every day.” In fact, there is a very obvious attempt by the Congress to shed its anti-Hindu tag. Party leaders are seen making a beeline for temples, more so if it’s a shrine with a big following. At all his public meetings, Nath makes it a point to remind those present of his Hindu credentials by pointing out how he is behind the building of the tallest Hanuman idol, standing 101 feet and 8 inches tall, in Chhindwara.