16

Apr

Congress Opens Front In Gujarat; BJP Retaliates In Familiar Style

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A person with a mustache AI-generated content may be incorrect.Ahmedabad in Gujarat hosted the 84th session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) on April 8 and 9 for the first time after 64 years. For long, the party had avoided taking the bull by the horns. It decided to strike in Narendra Modi and Amit Shah’s heartland. Those who are aware of the regulated retaliation and flexible response that follows any foray into their homeland did not have to wait for long. Call it a corny coincidence, hustled happenstance or persisting pattern. Forty-eight hours later (April 12) the Enforcement Directorate(ED) announced that it has served notices to take possession of immoveable assets worth Rs 661 crores in Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow- as part of a money laundering probe- belonging to Associated Journals Ltd.(AJL) that owns the National Herald group of publications.

Shepherded out of Gujarat, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s home state and kept out of power for thirty years, the Congress had scarce options. It either takes the bull by the horns or wastes itself into obsolescence.” It does not behove to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near one”, said Dr. Manish Doshi, justifying the Congress move to beard the wolf in its lair. There were many in the party youth brigade attending the session who felt that if Rahul Gandhi had not been thwarted in building on the strength of the Gujarat Pradesh Youth Congress ‘vikas khoj padyatra” in February 2014, the state and even the country would have presented a different picture. Gandhi had walked the last leg of the padyatra and addressed a lakh-strong crowd at Bardoli on February 8, 2014. That Rahul’s plans to turn the youth congress into a strong force were scuttled from within is a different matter altogether.

Better late than never, he set the record straight on March 8, exactly a month before the Ahmedabad session. ”Get off your haunches and get going, he told a gathering of over 2000 grassroots-level party leaders. ”A party loyal to the people, not a BJP 'B’ team, is what the people want”, he said to a standing ovation. This one address was like adrenaline flowing through the veins of the party.

Column at a Glance
The 84th session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) took place in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, marking the party's return to the state after 64 years. This strategic move aims to challenge the dominance of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in their home turf. Shortly after the session, the Enforcement Directorate initiated a money laundering probe against Associated Journals Ltd., highlighting the political tensions.
Thursday Thunder
By R.K. Misra
Rahul Gandhi's recent call to action for party leaders has energised the Congress, focusing on rebuilding its presence in Gujarat ahead of the 2027 State Assembly elections. The party plans to revitalise its leadership and engage youth, while also facing challenges from the BJP's stronghold on cooperative sectors. Despite the Congress's efforts, it remains vulnerable due to the lack of effective counter-forces against the BJP's grassroots organisations. The unfolding political dynamics in Gujarat could significantly impact the Congress's future strategies and electoral prospects.

Whatever may be the outcome but Rahul and the Congress have placed Gujarat firmly at the centre of the table with the State Assembly elections of 2027 occupying primacy of place. A list of leaders differentiating between the work horses and the marriage horses, the fertile and the sterile, is in the works. The implementation is expected to be two-pronged. For one, it will involve strategic sidelining, while the second one will involve more drastic action, including suspensions. The list is fairly long, but some progenies of illustrious parents are in line for the order of the boot.

With the year 2025 dedicated to rebuilding party cadres and with Rahul Gandhi himself taking the initiative in Gujarat, the Congress will witness a greater injection of youth and vitality. Any proof, if needed, lies in the fact that he returns to Gujarat, on April 15-16, his second within a fortnight, this time to Modasa, Aravalli, for finalising the state party’s district leadership. Already, four Pradesh Congress Committee observers and one AICC observer have been appointed for each of the 41 districts Congress bodies, who will decide on the district party chiefs.

Rahul had sought feedback from the rank and file. He has been deluged with a virtual hill height of letters, information that has left those processing it dazed, even shocked.

The Congress strategy of taking the battle into the rival camp is not expected to go unchallenged either. Nothing of note moves in Gujarat without Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his home minister Amit Shah being in the know of things. It was not without reason that Amit Shah was additionally made the Union Minister of Cooperatives. In one fell swoop, the entire structure of cooperatives in Gujarat as well as in the country has been brought under Modi-Shah control. There are 8,02,639 cooperative societies in 29 different sectors in the country, of which 81307 are in Gujarat alone. Gujarat State Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation(GCMMF), which owns the AMUL brand itself, achieved an annual turnover of Rs 80,000 crores in 2023-24, thanks to 3.6 million milk producers(voters). BJP now has a cast-iron grip on the milk cooperative sector in Gujarat, and the chairman of the district dairies is appointed by an official mandate from the party (read government).

The Congress foray into Gujarat, even if it happens to be a diversionary move, aimed at easing the pressure elsewhere, has its ramifications. The swift stirrings within the key law enforcement and investigative agencies are proof enough that it has hit home where it hurts.

Besides the obvious advantage of holding the reins of power both in Gujarat and in Delhi, the Congress is vulnerable in the shape of a moribund Sewa Dal, which is no match to the effervescent Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). Sewa Dal never evolved and withered away with time. Shakti Dal, which Shankersinh Vaghela set up after he rebelled and quit the BJP to finally join the Congress, was a much more effective counter to the Bajrang Dal. Shakt Dal proved its mettle when it took on the might of the Bajrang Dal and gave it a hollering of a lifetime during Vaghela’s election from Radhanpur. It was the old guards of the Gujarat Congress leadership who used Ahmed Patel to persuade Mrs Sonia Gandhi to shut down its shutters of the Shakti Dal.. The Congress will for long feel the loss until it creates an effective counter-force to this militant arm of the Sangh Parivar.

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